listening to vanessa feltz on bbc radio london this morning talking about black role models in england, she mentioned that she had been in a lift or something with floella benjamin and found out she was the chancellor of the university of exeter. so i looked for a website, and found out what an amazing life she has been leading.
for those of you wondering who on earth this woman is, she was a children's tv heroine on the bbc in two shows called play school, and play away. If you grew up with her, you couldn't forget her. I am a little older than her "playschool babies", but i had a younger sibling as my excuse to watch the shows :-)
I'm an American student at the University of Exeter and Floella is indeed our Chancellor. At my MSc graduation last winter she was so enthusiastic and genuinely joyful in congratulating the graduates. She gave out lots of hugs which was great. Normally in the UK, university Chancellors are old British lords and you'll be lucky to get a stern look and a handshake!
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