An Oral History Interview with Edmond Noel
Exhibitor's Statement
Getting to know Mr. Noel over the course of my freshman fall term has been an immense pleasure. The racial demographics of New Hampshire, compared to my hometown, Washington DC, are super white. I had never been one of the only Black faces in a white community before, which made it all the more helpful interviewing among the first on this campus. Mr. Noel, in and out of the formal interview, gave me advice on how to cope with feelings of racial isolation. His guidance was sometimes hard to swallow, but always beneficial to me. As Dr. Eroll Hill was for him, Mr. Noel gave me the sense of home at this foreign school. Near the end of the interview he said “people have come before you who have had far tougher barriers, taller barriers, stronger barriers, more hatred filled barriers, and they survived. And you will too.” And he spoke it with such confidence that even I, always expecting the worst, believed him.
I am a devout follower of the upward path, if only because I’ve never known anyone who has stepped foot on it before. Mr. Noel, a prominent attorney with three Ivy League degrees, has lived a success story that I want to achieve myself. Not just his position in life is attractive to me, but I want the mindset that led him there. Mr. Noel taught me how to manage any obstacles that might cause me to swerve from my upward climb. The isolation of being a Black student at a predominantly white school can be drowned out by schoolwork and self improvement. There is no problem that you cannot work your way out of.
