Rachel Bassette Noel, a renowned civil rights leader and former chair of the Metropolitan State College of Denver Department of African American Studies, passed away Feb. 4 at the age of 90 in Oakland, Calif. Living in Denver for most her life, she was an outspoken advocate for equal opportunity for minority citizens and a true champion of equal access to education for all.
Hundreds gathered for her memorial service on a snowy March 2 at Shorter Community AME Church in Denver, where the eulogy was delivered by Dr. Vincent Harding, professor emeritus of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology. Other speakers included Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper, former Denver Public Schools Board Member Ed Benton, Senators Regis Groff and Gloria Tanner, Metropolitan State College President Stephen M. Jordan, and family members, Kathryn Sue Gavin and Phoebe Haddon.
Born on January 15, 1918, Noel was known as s lion of the civil rights movement in Denver. In 1965, she became the first African American elected to the Denver Public School board and the first African American woman ever to serve elected office in Colorado.
On April 25, 1968, she presented the DPS board with the Noel Resolution, which asked the superintendent to develop a plan to integrate Denver's public schools. Under a cloud of threats to Noel and her family, the resolution passed in 1970. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually echoed Noel's position in its landmark decision of 1973, Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1, making Denver the first city outside the American South to receive instructions by the country's highest court to address segregation with school busing.
Noel came to Metro State College as a teacher of sociology and African American studies in 1969 and served as chair of the African American Studies Department from 1971 to 1980.
In 1976, Noel was appointed to the University of Colorado Board of Regents, and was subsequently elected to a six-year term, serving as regent from 1976 to 1984 and chairing the board for one year.
She later served on Mayor Wellington Webb's Black Advisory Committee, as chair of Mayor Federico Peña's Black Advisory Committee, on the Advisory Board of the United States Civil Rights Commission, as Denver Housing Authority commissioner, and on the Chancellor's Advisory Committee for the Health Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Denver
A recipient of many distinctions, Noel was honored with a Denver middle school named after her. She holds degrees from Hampton and Fisk Universities and an honorary doctorate from the University of Denver. Her other accomplishments are many, and include the Anti-Defamation League's Civil Rights Award in 2004, a spot on the Rocky Mountain News Top 100 Citizens of the Century list compiled in 2000, induction into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award in 1990.
An associate professor of sociology and African American studies for 11 years at Metro State, Noel helped found the Department of African American Studies, which she chaired from 1971 to 1980. Upon her retirement, the college named her an associate professor emeritus. Later, in 1980, the college created the Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship to honor her legacy in the Denver community. The professorship brings renowned scholars and artists of distinction to conduct seminars, performances and lectures.
The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Metro State. Donations may be made online at http://www.mscd.edu/giving/noel/. If mailing a donation, make the check payable to the Metropolitan State College Foundation, Inc. and mail to The Rachel B. Distinguished Visiting Professorship, PO Box 17971, Denver, CO 80217-9812, or internally to Campus Box 14.

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