Austin College students, administrators, and friends gathered December 2 at the Collins Alumni Center for the annual Sara Bernice Moseley Tea. The event honors Mrs. Moseley, a former first lady of Austin College, and recognizes the students and donors of the scholarship program named in her honor.
The Sara Bernice Moseley Scholarships, named by the Austin College Board of Trustees in 1995, benefit students who are members of the Presbyterian Church and who have demonstrated a commitment to the Church and service to others.
Since 1999 when the awards first were given, 635 student recipients, commonly known as Moseley Scholars, have benefited from 50 Sponsored Moseley Scholarships and 13 Endowed Moseley Scholarships. Currently, 32 students receive Sara Bernice Moseley Scholarships for Outstanding Presbyterian Students.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Moseley was ill and unable to join the students and friends. Her daughter, Rebecca Moseley Gafford, a 1972 graduate of the College and a member of the College’s Board of Trustees, attended the event. She thanked the students and friends for coming and said that Austin College is very dear to her mother’s heart.
Austin College President Marjorie Hass welcomed guests and spoke of the honor it has been to have Mrs. Moseley as part of the College community and highlighted her legacy in the Presbyterian Church. “We are blessed to know Sara Bernice Moseley and wish her returned good health,” she said. “And to the Moseley Scholars, we are so glad you are part of the Austin College family.”
About Sara Bernice Moseley
A lifelong Presbyterian, Sara Bernice Honea Moseley graduated from Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman’s University) in 1937 with a degree in music. She studied further at the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. In 1953, she and her husband, John D., moved to Sherman as he was appointed the 12th president of Austin College. He served as president until 1978, and then spent three years as chancellor. Upon his retirement, the Moseleys stayed in Sherman and were active members of the College community. Dr. Moseley died in 2009, and Mrs. Moseley remains in her home across Grand Avenue from the campus.
Serving as first lady of Austin College, Mrs. Moseley also was trailblazing Presbyterian woman. In 1975, she became the first woman in the Presbyterian Church in the United States to be endorsed by a presbytery for moderator of the General Assembly, the highest elected official of the church, and in 1978, Mrs. Moseley became the first woman to be elected moderator of the General Assembly. Mrs. Moseley was an instrumental figure in the reunion of the two major branches of the Presbyterian Church, which came about in 1983, serving as co-chair of Friends for Reunion in 1981-82 and as the first chair of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1983-84.
Austin College named Mrs. Moseley an honorary alumna of Austin College in 1974, and she received an honorary doctor of humane letters from the College in 1978. She was named an honorary Golden ’Roo (a graduate of 50 or more years) of Austin College in 2003. Texas Woman’s University named Mrs. Moseley a distinguished alumna in 1977, and she was named the American Association of University Women’s Outstanding Woman in Sherman in 1980. She received the James I. McCord Award for significant and ongoing service to the Presbyterian Church from the Austin College Board of Trustees in 1999.
She is a member of Sherman’s Covenant Presbyterian Church and throughout her years in Sherman has been involved with several community organizations, including two choirs, a literary club, the American Association of University Women, and the Bomar Cramer Music Club.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives.