“The Great Debaters: Before We Were Bison” 

Jenée Edgerton and David Edgerton, III 

David (B.A. ’21, JD ’25) and Jenée (B.S. ‘21) Edgerton’s origin story actually begins before setting foot on Howard’s campus — and as not-so-friendly competition, no less.

The two first met as high school juniors, at the 2017 National Speech and Debate Association Tournament. It was during the semifinals that David found himself the unwitting target of Jenée’s oral argument: Black men should do more for Black women in the fight for liberation.

“I start my speech off with, ‘I’m so tired of Black men,’ as a way to pull the audience in,” Jenée remembered. “And he was a Black man in the audience. I was like, it’s a perfect opportunity to utilize what’s available to me to win this thing.”

As quite possibly the only Black man in the room, David certainly took notice. “She used me as a pawn to get laughs, and it worked quite well,” he quipped. “After the round, we had a conversation. It’s like, ‘What did I do to you? I don’t even know you,” and she’s like, ‘Whatever...’”

During their senior year, they continued crossing paths at various debate competitions all across the country, eventually realizing they both were matriculating to Howard — and that it made more sense for them to be friends than enemies.

“We know we’re going to see each other on campus, and it’ll be useful to have some sort of relationship because we’re not coming in as freshmen not knowing anyone,” Jenée said.

The pair bonded over financial aid and roommates and dorms, their newfound friendship very quickly blossoming into romance. Their relationship crystallized at the next year’s National Speech and Debate Association Tournament in Jenée’s hometown of Miami, where Jenée won first place and David fifth. Jenée, perhaps wanting to ease the sting of David’s defeat, proceeded to take him on a date that changed the course of their history.

“The following day, Jenée picked me up and we went to IHOP, and after that, we went ice skating in Miami in June because she wanted to do something that she knew that I would be better than her,” David said, smiling. “I think it was at that moment that I said, ‘You know, I think maybe we can make something shake.’ And that was eight years ago.”

A Love Everlasting 

When the two arrived at the university, they were in fact already David and Jenée. When asked if they ever broke up or dated other people, the pair said no. “I think because we came to campus as a couple, everybody was like, ‘OK, they’re a couple.’ So, I think that I think that helped,” said David. 

They had formed a special foundation before they stepped foot on the yard, and though Jenée and David went through the typical relationship ups and downs, they continued to build upon that foundation, each being there for the other when needed. “Adjusting to college was a struggle for me personally,” began Jenée. “I really struggled in my freshman year. Luckily David was there to really help me and hold me up.” 

One of the ways he was there for her: purchasing a winter coat. 

“Being from Miami, the cold hit me way harder than I thought,” explained Jenée, “He took me to get my first like real winter coat, which was very nice.” 

David credits their staying together with the fact that they experienced much of their early adulthood discovering life and having new experiences together.  

“We traveled all across the DMV. We would visit each other during winter break and spring break, and we did activities together,” he said noting they supported each other in campus events and even studied abroad together in spring of 2020. “That was a fun time. We’ve really navigated our early adulthood, our transition and that emerging adulthood together.” 

A Howard Engagement, A Community Affair 

“Howard gave us our community,” said Jenée. “That is what makes our love story so unique, because it was bonded together by the community at Howard University.” According to her, the community they built pushed the couple to succeed, not only in their studies, but as a team of two. “Our Howard friends honestly were a large part of bolstering our relationship and pushing us forward, driving us to constantly do better.”

Speaking of a supportive community, when David decided to propose — in the middle of COVID no less — several of their friends were on hand to help out. 

“We got engaged on Howard’s campus in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic while the campus was shut down. David snuck on campus; he had all of our friends stationed at different parts of the campus, all of our favorite spots,” Jenée recalled. Those spots included Drew Hall, her freshman dorm, and Blackburn, and each friend had a rose and a poem written for the fiancé to be. “I think that just speaks to our community literally piecing us together until we got to the end, which was on the yard, and he got down on one knee.” 

Jenée and David have since completed multiple degrees — David graduating this past May from Howard Law School (currently working at a firm in Baltimore) while his wife is finishing up her doctorate program in clinical psychology at George Washington University (and working as doctoral intern at the Howard University Counseling Service). They’ve also grown their own little Bison family. 

“We can go to homecoming with our babies,” said Jenée. “Our own baby Bison.” 

Baby Bison whose parents are instilling in them the same drive to be of service to their community that Howard instilled in them. “We literally say all the time, ‘In truth and service,’” she continued. “It’s a motto and a mantra in our house at this point.” 

David agreed, stating that they make service a family affair. “We still serve with our kids,” he said. “We have brought our kids to MLK cleanup days as little as 3-4 months old.”

A commitment to service. A community that extends beyond the yard, thriving careers, and a love story that began in high school and continued to be written at their HBCU. For David, none of it could’ve happened without his alma mater. 

“I don’t think that it would be possible for our story to exist if it had not been for Howard.” 

“It Was Love at First Sight” 

Anita D. Stearns Mayo and James Haskell Mayo, II

Anita D. Stearns Mayo (B.S. ’75, MA ’76) and her husband James Haskell Mayo, II (B.A.’74, MA ’77, JD ’80) have been together for almost 50 years. The couple’s journey to Howard University, and to each other, almost seemed destined.  

A Legacy Continues: The Path to the Mecca

Anita made her way to Howard University at the instance of her mother. “My mom was a 1945 graduate of Howard and her sister finished in 1948,” she explained, noting that her parents had migrated from Mississippi to Wisconsin in the early 1920s, and that though there was a Black community there, the schools were integrated. 

“It was a small group of African Americans in the city, and so my mom, in many cases, was the only African American in her class,” said Anita. “When she finished high school, she decided that she wanted to attend an HBCU, and I guess she did her research and determined that Howard was the best in the country.” Her parents were both teachers at the only HBCU in her hometown of Oklahoma, Langston University, and her mother encouraged Anita and her sister to attend her alma mater. “My mom was really strong about wanting me to attend Howard.” 

Anita’s husband-to-be had a similar story, which led him to the Mecca. 

“I had a similar experience in that my father was a graduate of Wilberforce University,” began James. The senior Mayo would later move from Ohio to D.C. to attend the Howard University School of Divinity, where he met Mordecai Wyatt Johnson. 

“My father was most enamored with Mordecai, and in fact, at the age of eight years old, after the commencement there, Mordecai came to our very humble home, and I met him for the first time,” he remembered. “Throughout our growing up, while we were in elementary school, middle school, high school, he often spoke about the greatness of Howard University and what it meant to him.” 

He continued, “Howard was the only school for me. I matriculated there and received my bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science. I received a master’s in political science and went on to receive my law degree from Howard. I’m a three times proud Howard Grad.” His sister, like his wife, also attended the university. 

Anita studied psychology at Howard as an undergraduate and received her master’s in guidance and counseling from the Mecca as well, opting to attend law school at the University of California, Berkley School of Law. That said, it’s clear that she and her husband have a deep love for Howard University, and each other. 

“Howard gave me two of the most important things in my life, the degrees for which I received and worked hard on, and my wife,” said James. 

The Meeting 

“I had been a serious student all of my life,” began Anita. “I lived in the library, and between classes, I would go to there to study.” She explained that in Founders Library, there was a study room with long wooden tables. “Jim, on one occasion, ended up sitting at the same table, across from me. “Libraries are very quiet; I don’t know what happened, but at another table, a book hit the floor,” she continued. “Well, I jumped and looked up, and Jim also looked up, and then, I guess, decided to take advantage of the opportunity at that time to introduce himself.” 

He asked her to lunch and though she agreed, admitting that she had an attraction to the young man, she did so as a friend. “It wasn’t love at first sight for me, but it was a very strong attraction,” she said. “But because I was dating a young man who was attending Langston University, I decided that we would just be friends.” 

However, the friends would eventually become more as the couple were engaged the next year.  “We got together and actually got engaged, I believe, the second semester of my sophomore year,” she said.

The couple would travel to Anita’s home to meet her mother and sister, after the engagement. “They both fell in love with him as well,” she said, recalling that her mother was initially concerned she’d become a wife before becoming a graduate. There was no need to worry, though. “It took us a long while to get married, because we were still in undergrad. We didn’t actually get married until after we both got our master’s degrees.” 

A Uniquely #BisonLove Story

While Mrs. Mayo may not have been sure her future husband was the one upon their meeting in Founder’s, Mr. Mayo was. 

“When I first saw Anita, I instantly knew that I wanted to make her my wife; I wanted to live my life with her the rest of my life,” he said. “Some things are intuitive more than they are logical.” That said, he did have a list of qualities he was looking for in a partner, which is pretty logical. “I had kind of a whole list of things that I was looking for in a future bride, and she at least met three of those things, and later, four,” explained James. “She was Black, she was brilliant, and she was beautiful.” 

His friends would later refer to the requirements as his “triple B list.” And number four on the list?

“The other thing that was vitally important to me was that she be a Christian,” he said.  

For the young woman who checked all of James’s boxes, meeting a young man who shared her passion to learn, achieve, and grow was paramount. Anita knew attending Howard University would put her in proximity with such a young man. 

“If you go to a university like Howard, you are on a career-oriented path, you’re serious about your academic studies,” she said, noting her and her husband’s similar backgrounds. “Trying to find someone that had similar values to what I had, I think that’s what I found in Jim.” The two, who would spend hours talking on the phone, built a solid friendship first. Perhaps that’s the secret to the sauce, to finding your soulmate — or maybe it’s spending more time in the library.  

“I tell people, the best place to meet young men is in the library,” Anita intoned. “Especially in the stacks!” 

“The connective tissue between our relationship and Howard is that Howard stimulates and meets that intellectual curiosity that you have,” added James. “Anita always had a strong and vibrant intellectual curiosity to know more, and that was, indeed, what I was there for, to learn as much as I possibly could. But there is a second element, another thing that has been inculcated and instilled to be, and I’m certain the same is true for Anita, is ‘Veritas et Utilitas.’ Meaning, service to others was clear.” 

James went on acknowledge the exposure to greatness afforded to those who call Howard University home. “One of the things that we did was quite apart from the core courses that we were taking and our major, was an opportunity to be exposed to some of the greatest minds in the country, and indeed, the world,” he said. “We had something called Project Black Awareness. I remember getting tickets to see Angela Davis, to see Amiri Baraka, to see a whole cascading number of notable quotable individuals who are making a profound difference.” 

Bison for Life 

The couple, who were on campus this past May to celebrate Anita’s golden reunion and plan to return this spring to celebrate their sister’s, remain extremely connected and engaged with Howard University, having served as alumni association leaders over the years, even reconstituting the Bay Area Howard University Alumni Club. “Because of our love for Howard, we have been involved with the Alumni Association at the highest levels,” said Anita, who also served on Howard’s Board of Trustees from 2008-2011.  

The drive to serve their community and give back, especially to the youth, remains of utmost importance to the HU couple who embodies the university’s commitment to truth and service.

“Til Death Do Us Part’… Love Endures”

Dr. Anthony “Tony” Evans Watkins and Gladys Manigault Watkins

Dr. Anthony “Tony” Evans Watkins (B.S. ’62, MD ’66) met his future wife Gladys Manigault Watkins (BMus Ed. ’66) following their respective graduations from the Medical School and the College of Fine Arts. Dr. Watkins, who passed on Jan. 15, 2025, was the first elected African American president of the Medical and Dental Staff at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (1993-2001), where he practiced for more than 40 years before retiring in 2014. His wife of 57 years, Professor Watkins, is an educator, author, and Professor Emerita who continues to contribute to publications as a freelance writer.

The Meeting

“We met after the graduation ceremony,” began Mrs. Watkins (Gladys). “We were asked to return our robes alphabetically at the gym.” Not knowing exactly where to go or what line to stand in, Gladys asked a friend for help. “I said, ‘Hi, can you tell me how this is working in here with all these people in the lines?’ And he said — as he was talking to another friend of his at the time — ‘Oh, Gladys, do you know Tony?’ I said, “No, I don’t; it’s nice to meet you, and I guess he said the same thing back to me.”

Their paths would cross again, later that same day. “After leaving the gym, I went back to the quad to get my things ready for my brother to pack the car, so we could head back to South Carolina,” she explained. “When I came out with my suitcases and other stuff, I saw Tony talking to my brother as he was loading the car. He says, ‘Walter, is that your sister?’ And, you know, I really think he knew that, but I can’t swear to it!”

Though Tony made plans to perhaps visit the siblings in South Carolina (he was to be in Florida to take his medical boards and said maybe he would “stop by to see you guys”), Watkins doesn’t recall her future husband making the trip to SC. It wasn’t until she returned to D.C. to study at Catholic University that the two would cross paths again.

“I came back the next year in grad school at Catholic University. My dorm was actually an apartment building on 12th Street, N.E.,” said Gladys. Tony was interning in Baltimore at the time.

“I really don’t know if I shared information that I was coming back to grad school in one of those earlier conversations with him at Howard when we met. But that’s when we really started dating: He called and wanted to know if I wanted to go to a movie. And I love movies and he loved movies. Sometimes we went to 2-3 movies in one day!”

When asked if she had an inkling that she’d met her future husband on graduation day, Gladys said no — though she admits she’d caught glimpses of him walking by as she was eating lunch or in a late study session before that fateful day. “I had seen him once or twice, but, you know, it was just like seeing anybody, so to speak,” she said, recalling his black sweater and that he always had the sleeves pushed up. “I said, ‘Oh, he is so cute!’” Nice smile!” Apparently, he’d noticed her, too.

“In my talking to Tony, later in our lives, he said that he had seen me before, for sure,” she said. Further, he said that he had even heard one of her previous dates speaking of her while they were on campus. “It was just an interesting thing, the way our meeting each other kind of evolved; that we liked the same things. It was just wonderful to have that kind of friendship with someone; and I just thought he was such an intellectual, so smart. And always a gentleman,” she said. “I would always tell myself, ‘I’m going to marry a smart guy,’ and Tony was like an encyclopedia. Perhaps he had a photographic memory.” 

Let’s Get Married…

“I can remember when Tony and I went shopping for our rings in downtown Washington. It was so strange to me to be looking for rings,” Gladys remembered. The two decided to skip the engagement part, opting to go straight to the altar instead. “He said, ‘No, we're gonna just go and get married. And so, we went and got our matching bands.” He didn’t skip asking her parents’ permission for her hand in marriage, however. “He said, I need to ask your dad to marry you, and so he did.” He also made sure to give her a wedding. 

“Since I wanted a wedding, we planned a small one and got married in Rankin Chapel on Howard’s campus, with a lovely reception at The International Inn in northwest Washington.”

Married for 57 years, one would think that Gladys would have a book full of advanced advice for young Bison just beginning their love stories. However, Gladys offered some pretty simple words of wisdom based on communication. “I would say it kind of depends on how long you really knew each other before you got married,” she began, noting the importance of picking up on each other’s nuances and differences as you grow together as a couple — and being aware of how you respond to them. For example, her late husband liked to be on time. When she was running late, she made sure to let him know. “I'd call and say, ‘Tony, I’m en route, but the traffic’s kind of a mess; I’ll be there shortly, okay?”

I always want to give the best I can for my husband, because that’s what he would do for me.”

A Love That Lives On

After 57 years of marriage, three children, and a friendship that began with a chance encounter on Commencement Day, Gladys remembers her husband as the cute, smart, young man who changed her life. And, like any true writer, she asked to see this piece, detailing the beginnings of their love story, before publication — to make sure we got it right.

“I always want to give the best I can for my husband, because that’s what he would do for me.”