Elaine Clyburn is a volunteer at heart.
A member of the Class of 1956, Clyburn has dedicated nearly 50 years of her life to working for the American Red Cross, an organization whose aim is to alleviate human suffering. She has served the Red Cross as both a volunteer and paid staff member. Regardless of which role she was fulfilling, the Buffalo, N.Y., native made it her mission to aid others in whatever way she could, following the example set for her by father, a city bus driver, and mother, a homemaker who later went to work in a factory. Like politician and author Shirley Chisholm, Clyburn has come to believe, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.”
The Le Moyne alumna began her tenure at the Red Cross in 1969 as a hospital field director in Vietnam, where she advocated on behalf of U.S. military personnel stationed there. After returning to the U.S., she was transferred to a military hospital on Long Island before moving into disaster services in the Red Cross. Since then, she has traveled to 49 American states, working on behalf of people facing the most significant crises of their lives, including fires, floods and earthquakes. She earned the distinction of becoming the first person of color to be named a Level 5 disaster director, the highest level in the Red Cross system.
Over the course of her career, Clyburn has made it a point to use her many gifts and talents to aid her co-workers as well. She is a founding member of a group of Red Cross staff members and volunteers who referred to themselves as Blacks in the American Red Cross and whose goal was to mentor and encourage one another. Today the group has expanded to include all Red Cross workers who are members of a minority group. It serves as a testament to Clyburn’s commitment to ensuring the strong future of the organization that meant so much to her.
In addition to her bachelor’s degree from Le Moyne, Clyburn earned a master’s degree in social work from Howard University. Over the course of her career she has worked as a family counselor, school social worker and civil rights activist. She has also taught social work at Colorado State University and Villa Maria College, and was instrumental in developing and growing the programs at both institutions.
Clyburn has received numerous accolades for her work, including a Presidential Citation for her long and dedicated service and a Legacy Award for service to the armed services in a time of war. Yet she remains ever humble and dedicated to her work. This spring she received an honorary doctorate from Le Moyne. While she is now formally retired from the Red Cross, she continues to give her time and energy freely to the organization that shaped her professional life, and to others close to her heart, including the National Civil Right Museum and St. Augustine Catholic Church in her adopted home of Memphis, Tenn. She believes emphatically that “volunteer is a pay grade, not a job description.”
She credits her time at Le Moyne with helping to nurture her desire to give back in whatever way she can.
“Much of who I am is due to my Le Moyne education,” she said. “It taught me about what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to become.”
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