For over three decades, Lee has been a pillar of the NIRSA family. She attended more than 50 NIRSA events, bringing encouragement, love, and support to countless members. Affectionately called “Mama” by the many students and professionals whom she mentored and inspired through her constant presence at the NIRSA Annual Conference and the yearly Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders Conference, the legacy of NIRSA’s founder Dr. William Wasson continues to blossom because of her dedicated involvement.
Outsiders and the uninitiated might be surprised to hear such esteem and regard heaped upon a woman who never worked a day in campus recreation during her long and full life. However, for those of us who hear the phrase “the NIRSA family” and reflect on our own lineage in the profession as well as the shoots and branches of our NIRSA next of kin, there is near universal consensus about her place in the Association; she is regarded by most as the matriarch of our storied organization.
Business Operations Manager at Arizona State University Stefani Plummer was a dear friend of Lee’s and says, “She has been a second mom to me for as long as I can remember.” Stefani reminded me this week that Lee “didn’t like the spotlight.” Maureen “Moe” McGonagle, Director, CENTERS, LLC At DePaul University, Past President of NIRSA, and 2015 NIRSA Honor Award recipient, echoes this sentiment and says, “Lee eschewed having her name on things, but members will want to honor her. She was truly and deeply loved by members. And she loved us as much as we loved her. She was one of us.”
It is true that Mama Wasson never sought the spotlight for herself. “But,” says David Davenport, Director of University Recreation at Austin Peay State University and Past President of NIRSA, “no matter what was going on, she was always gracious in being recognized and loved on.” So, with that in mind, we would like to take the space and time here to share a little more about who she was and give NIRSA members, old and new, a small sense of what made her so beloved to so many.
About Beulah Lee Clark Shelton Wasson
Born Beulah Lee Clark on August 18, 1925, in Hillsboro, Georgia, she moved with her family to Detroit, Michigan at only eight months old. Lee described the Detroit street that she grew up on as “very close,” saying “everybody knew everybody.”
Lee lost her mother at an early age but described the two-family flat that she lived in growing up as “the stopping-off place for everybody that moved to Detroit.” As she grew, Lee was mentored by her aunts and looked up to one particular cousin who attended Tuskegee University (known as the Tuskegee Institute at the time) in Alabama. Upon finishing her high school education in Detroit in 1943, Lee hoped to follow in her cousin’s footsteps and she applied to the nursing school at Tuskegee.
But, as fate would have it, the timing didn’t work out. Because of when she applied to the program, her admission to Tuskegee stipulated that she wouldn’t be allowed to enroll until the following year. At her family’s behest, Lee changed course and enrolled instead at the local Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Wayne State University. Actually, “I had no say so in it,” she said. Despite her reputation in NIRSA of being a fiercely independent thinker, she conceded, “At that time, we did what our parents told us to do.”
She entered the program at Wayne State optimistic and with a good friend at her side. However, Lee also spoke openly about some of the discrimination that she faced at Wayne State, where she was one of only three Black students in the nursing program. She described how, from the very beginning, directly after the new nursing student orientation, she and the two other Black students were called aside and told that they could complete their two-year coursework at Wayne State, but that they would have to go to Saint Louis, West Virginia, or Chicago to complete their residency as “there wasn’t a hospital in Detroit that would accept us,” she said.
She described the news as a “curve ball,” and “not what we had signed-up for.” During the holiday break of that first-year at Wayne State, Lee and her friend took seasonal jobs at the post office that ended up having fateful consequences for her life. Lee was allowed to continue working with the post office beyond the seasonal period, and that’s when she met Mrs. Buggs. Mrs. Buggs was the wife of a Dillard University professor who was doing some work at Wayne State while on sabbatical. Lee and Mrs. Buggs became close friends, with Lee calling her a “surrogate mother.” Mrs. Buggs told her about Dillard and eventually enticed Lee to attend the university to complete her nursing degree.
In 1944, Lee enrolled in Dillard University’s Bachelor of Science nursing program. Upon moving to New Orleans, she persevered to graduate (Class of ’49) in the face of discrimination—especially through interactions with the program director who was from Boston. Lee explained that the director called her aside and wanted it to be clear that Lee was in the South now and that things were different there than they were in the North. In recounting this period of her life, she candidly pointed out that things in the North were not so totally free either. Still, during the five years she spent in New Orleans, Lee—unlike most of her nursing school peers who stuck closely to the confines of the program—immersed herself in a range of new opportunities on campus, including drama, the Ivy League Club, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Lee credited her father as her greatest source of inspiration: “He was stern, but he was so kind and open.” And when he told Lee, “You’ve been gone for almost five years. It’s time to come home,” she reluctantly moved back to Detroit and began her nursing career in orthopedics at Harper Hospital, which is now the DMC Harper University Hospital. Partly because of her dedication to hard work and partly because of her compassion for patients (she said that she cried alongside the tough cases when they were awake), she ended up in the operating room at Harper Hospital, eventually being promoted to head nurse of the operating room.
Lee later worked at Mount Carmel—now the DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital—where she worked in Central Services as part of hospital administration and implemented several significant changes in the medical industry before retiring. Beulah Lee Clark became Mrs. Shelton when she married her first husband, Calvin. Together they had three daughters: Stephanie, Lisa, and Marsha. As her daughters grew, Lee actively involved herself in the Girl Scouts for more than two decades. Calvin passed away in March of 2001; Calvin and Lee were both preceded in death by their daughter Stephanie, who passed away in March of 2000.
A chance meeting
Dr. William Wasson was the track coach at Dillard University during the time that Lee was on campus, but their paths never crossed during their overlapping time in New Orleans beyond an occasional chance campus passing where she marked him as “that bald guy.”
Bill’s involvement with the Association’s Executive Committee had pretty much wrapped up after the twentieth Annual Conference in 1969 when he largely stepped away from intramurals and back into administrative work at Wayne State University and then on to finish work on his doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, which he completed in 1954 at the age of 39. Even before that 1969 Annual Conference, Bill described his involvement with NIRSA as “hit and miss” because from where he stood, “the intramural part was secondary with me because I was always employed as a biology teacher or physiology of exercise [teacher]. In many of the years [in the 50s and 60s], I was not even involved in the intramural program. And I had to pay my own way to conferences.”
Bill attended just a few more Association conferences over the next two decades after receiving the Honor Award at the Association’s 1969 conference in UCLA, but he continued to influence students—he served on 100 doctoral committees while he was at Wayne State and spent two decades teaching kinesiology, anatomy, physiology, and the physiology of exercise.
Lee Shelton formally met Dr. William Wasson in 1980 while attending a Dillard University Alumni Association meeting in Detroit, Michigan. Her best friend at the time—an old Dillard roommate—tipped Lee off that Bill might be at the Alumni Association meeting since he was living in Detroit not far from Lee herself. Bill and Lee struck up a friendship at the meeting, and Lee would soon be regularly driving him and their other friend to their alumni association meetings. Lee and Bill would marry two years later on Valentine’s Day in 1982.
“I don’t remember the exact date,” says Moe, but “in 1988 Juliette Moore reconnected Dr. William Wasson with NIRSA [at a regional conference]. I do remember, however, how excited we were to connect with (and honor) NIRSA’s founder. What we didn’t understand at the time is that we were getting a ‘family package.’ Not only were we reconnected with Dr. Wasson, but we had the immense blessing of welcoming Lee and Marsha into our NIRSA family,” says Moe.
Being Mama Wasson
From that first regional event, Lee attended every Annual Conference thereafter with Dr. Wasson until his passing in 1991. Before he passed away, she promised him that she would continue to make it to NIRSA events and attend the Annual Conference for as long as she could. At age 95, she was joyfully able to say, “I feel that Bill’s looking down and saying, ‘Lee, you did a good job.’” A true understatement. After Bill passed, she—along with her daughter Marsha—attended most Annual Conferences up through 2022 in Portland as well as many in-person Emerging Recreational Sports Leadership Conference, with her final connections being made in-person in 2023.
Lee was the personification of so many of NIRSA’s highest aspirations and the embodiment of our core values. She was renowned for being incredibly generous with her time. I could have easily asked more than 100 members for remembrances and reflections about her life and legacy. And after her passing, within only a matter of days, more than a dozen members had reached out to me to volunteer some memories. Below you will find just a small sampling of the outpouring of esteem and loss that has been felt across the NIRSA community.
“I first met Mama Wasson at the Annual Conference when she first returned to attending on a regular basis—I believe it was Denver in 1989. I remember being taken by her elegance, her warm spirit, and her beautiful smile.
Discernment, honesty, and time are three of the words that describe what I will treasure most about her. I, like so many others, was fortunate to have had her see something in me that needed to be shared with others. She encouraged me to be a leader and to use that platform to find ways to help and lift others. I wonder if I would have pursued those leadership opportunities without her encouragement. At the same time, she was always honest with me and quick to help me see where and what I could do better. Occasionally, there were things we didn’t agree on, and she shared those strong opinions with me. To have someone willing to tell you things you didn’t want—but needed—to hear was important to my personal and professional development. However, the most important treasure [from her] may have been time. To give of your time is the greatest gift you can give to anyone, and Mama seemed to have endless time for everyone. Watching her interact with seemingly everyone at a conference or workshop was amazing. Sharing a smile, a kind word, or a hug with each person had to be exhausting. Yet, day after day, year after year, she continued to provide that time for all of us. I was especially fortunate as [my wife] Barbara and I got to share birthdays and anniversaries with her and Marsha. I was especially honored and moved that she was able to attend the 2022 Annual Conference and celebrate my receiving the Honor Award!
I don’t know how you ‘capture’ love, but we should find a way to do that in anything we do to remember her. Whenever I had the chance to spend time with her or even when I saw her connecting with others, I always felt a sense of deep love in that space.
I think that when someone transitions away from us, we focus on what they meant to us while they were in our presence. In the case of Mama Wasson, we can best honor her by continuing to focus on what she means to us and how we can share the love that she modeled. She is love and love never dies.”
– Dr. Kevin Marbury, retired Vice President of Student Life at the University of Oregon, Past President of NIRSA, and 2022 NIRSA Honor Award recipient.
“Mama Lee adopted me into her family when I joined NIRSA in the early 90s. She lived in Arizona at the time, and I would visit her often. She always sent me home with homemade, crocheted hot pads! Ever since, she has always been a part of the milestones in my life—personal to professional. She gets a card and phone call on Mother’s Day, sometimes even before my own mom. She calls often and never misses a card. She remembers her ‘grandson’ Jacob, and she sends him a card for every birthday.
My time with Mama Lee is precious because she always gives it to me straight. She is one of the most authentic people I know. She always has some nugget of wisdom to share, even if it is to just ‘let it go.’ Mama has an opinion and isn’t afraid to share it. She supports people and always looks for ways to give back. Her investment in my life is priceless.
Mama is one of the most supportive people I know. I can’t remember her ever taking fewer than a handful of students to lunch. She attends every event she possibly can, even though she doesn’t like the spotlight. She supports every effort to acknowledge students and young professionals. She doesn’t get caught up in the bureaucracy and instead wants to make sure people are cared for, provided for, and given opportunities to meet—if not exceed—their potential.
I have always thought she is the epitome of not ‘sweating the small stuff.’ We can honor her through the effort we put forth to help others be successful in what they do. She inspires and challenges people to do better.
I share these statements and thoughts in present tense because in my heart she lives on. While she will be missed dearly, I know that each generation carries a piece of her heart and the best way to honor her legacy is to work hard, work well, and be kind. I will miss you, Mama…beyond words.”
– Stefani Plummer, Business Operations Manager at Arizona State University
“I clearly remember meeting Mama Wasson at one of my first NIRSA Annual Conferences and being blown away by her elegance and charm. I instantly knew she was someone who I wanted to get to know, as she soon became a role model and influential person in my life.
Her presence as a strong and influential Black woman gave me the confidence to thrive as a leader and to always be my authentic self. Mama Wasson saw the possibilities in me even before I saw them in myself. She encouraged and challenged me to strive for excellence. I learned a lot from her wisdom, tenacity, and advice throughout the years.
Her spirit was contagious and will not be forgotten. She is NIRSA legacy. She is a legend [in our Association] and should be recognized as such. As she helped us to never forget our past, it’s now our job to carry her spirit into the future. There is no NIRSA without Mama Wasson!
The countless individuals she has influenced throughout the years are now poised to continue her legacy of influence into the future. We will honor her with our commitment to ourselves and the Association. The Wasson name will live on.”
– Dr. Wendy Windsor, Director of Campus Recreation at Tulane University and NIRSA President
“I met Mama at my first or second ERSL Conference. I distinctly remember her being introduced as Mama Wasson, the wife of Dr. William Wasson, NIRSA’s founder. As Mama was speaking, she invited everyone in the room to come say hi and give her a hug. As scared as I was, that was exactly what I did. Instantly, Mama made me feel like I had been a NIRSA member for years. It was her warm hug and love that made me feel like I was in the right place and that I belonged in this field.
I will always treasure how she showed so much love to me and my family. Mama’s love went far beyond supporting me in NIRSA and in my career. She made me feel like I was her son and she cared about the people that love me the most, my family. On my kids’ birthdays, Mama would faithfully send them a card with a dollar for each year they’d been born. She would send cards for the holidays, my wedding anniversaries, and just because. She would call or send me a card anytime I would achieve a major life or career goal, or just to say how proud she was of me. I love how she was so thoughtful and intentional with her love. I will miss that the most.
I believe we can all honor Mama and keep her loving spirit alive by sharing hugs at the beginning of each ERSL and NIRSA conference.”
– Seneca Wilson, Director of Recreation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
“I first met Mama Wasson at the 2007 NIRSA Annual Conference in Minneapolis. As we all know, Mama Wasson was a person who everyone in NIRSA should know, and my mentor made sure meeting her was one of the first things I did that year. But it wasn’t until my volunteer role with the ERSL Committee that I really got to know Mama Wasson. As chair of outreach, I was responsible for taking care of the dignitaries leading up to and throughout the conference. We shared so much time together during those years. Long trips to the airport (NOLA to Jackson was fun), lunches, dinners, socials, sessions. She was always so full of energy, life, and opinions too.
You never had to worry about what Mama was thinking because she always told you. She kept us in line, and she did it with so much love. She took the time to get to know me and keep in touch; she truly cared about me as a person. The random cards and gifts will be missed, but I still have and cherish all that she sent.
Mama Wasson wasn’t big on having her name on anything, but she was huge on making true connections and expanding access to our Association’s conferences. Dr. William Wasson was the founder of this organization, but Mama Lee Wasson was absolutely the heart of it. Her smile, hugs, and advice were treasures and will be dearly missed. Her legacy is every bit as integral a part of this organization’s history as Dr. Wasson’s as she shared the same love for it as he did.”
– Candice Douglas, Assistant Director – Facilities at Western Kentucky University
“Mrs. Wasson was a NIRSA treasure. NIRSA royalty. Although never a NIRSA member herself, she advanced the mission, vision, and values of our Association with grace, passion, and commitment. She was a tireless advocate for NIRSA student members, serving as a mentor, confidant, and to most, simply as Mama!
I first met Mrs. Wasson in Denver at the NIRSA Annual Conference in 1989. It was the first annual conference that Dr. Wasson had attended in quite some time and Mrs. Wasson accompanied him. I was immediately struck by her warm smile, her kind nature, and her amazing beauty. Although I was just a young professional at the time and unaware of the Association’s history, I found her to be tremendously supportive of Dr. Wasson, always positive and engaging. She was a fierce advocate and protector of NIRSA’s history. She did so with a quiet confidence and a deep commitment.
She encouraged me to be a leader in NIRSA, often saying, ‘this is what Bill (Dr. Wasson) would expect of you. She was always real and always willing to engage with you, offering great support, advice, and unconditional—albeit sometimes tough—love.”
– Stan Shingles, Assistant Vice President at Central Michigan University, Past President of NIRSA, and 2019 NIRSA Honor Award recipient
“I have known Mama Wasson for over 25 years, having first met her at the Founders People of Color Social. I will always remember her spirit and spunky, determined persona. I treasure the time spent with her at Annual Conferences and ERSL Conferences. I’m grateful for her encouragement and unwavering support of our LGBTQI+ community social; she showed up to every single one over the last ten years.
It was so great to see her in Portland last year and she was surely missed this year in Pittsburg. She made people feel as though they were the only person in the room when you got to spend time with her. She generously loved students and she was such an encourager of others!”
– Laurie Braden, Executive Director of University Recreation at Louisiana State University and Past President of NIRSA
“At either the 1994 NIRSA Annual Conference in Nashville or the 1995 conference in Albuquerque, I first saw Mama Wasson in the lobby and she said to me, ‘Come here.’ I walked over and she asked me point blank, ‘Who are you?’ That was how we first met.
I will treasure the moments when I would see Mama and she would recall something she had said to me in a previous conversation. With so many people who would speak with her, I was always amazed that she would remember conversations with me from years before. I remember what she said to me as I prepared for my presidential year in NIRSA: ‘Don’t worry about what people will say to you, but always be true to yourself.’ That had a lasting impact on me.”
– David Davenport, Director of University Recreation at Austin Peay State University and Past President of NIRSA
“Lee was a meaningful and revered connection to our beginnings, our foundation, and our history. She was a reminder of our values and our priorities. She welcomed EVERYONE into her sphere. I loved how she perfectly balanced being opinionated and direct with being kind and gracious.”
– Maureen “Moe” McGonagle, Director, CENTERS, LLC At DePaul University, Past President of NIRSA, and 2015 NIRSA Honor Award recipient
“Mama Wasson was so influential in making everyone feel included. I saw her temper when she felt someone was being excluded and her open arms when making the move to include them.
My most precious times with her were each year at the ERSL Conference when I got to spend quality time with her as a friend and cheerleader. She was always in the front row at my presentations, sharing her perspectives and providing her insight.”
– Vicki Highstreet, Personal & Professional Development Coach retired Associate Director for Recreation Programming at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Past President of NIRSA, and 2018 NIRSA Honor Award recipient
One of Lee’s greatest pleasures was networking with NIRSA’s students and professionals; she made new NIRSA friends and renewed longstanding friendships. She would often tell people at the conference that she came to NIRSA each year to get rejuvenated so that she had enough strength to get through to the next year. “I still appreciate coming in there and being greeted by the kids,” she said.
When Stefani asked Lee what she loved so much about NIRSA, Lee told her, “You [all] reach out and you bring others in. My whole life is NIRSA. Whenever the meeting is, that’s me. Whenever ERSL is done, I’m there. I really like the camaraderie and the way that [the professionals] reach out. Because a lot of students come there from a school where they are the only one [present], you see them walking along by themselves. But it’s not long before they’re mixed in with somebody else. [The professionals] reach out and you bring others in.”
In the more than three decades that Lee has been involved in this association, NIRSA’s tent has grown bigger and more diverse thanks in no small part to the inclusive and familial atmosphere that Mama Lee Wasson cultivated so consistently.
A message from the Wasson family
Our hearts are with Lee’s daughters Marsha and Lisa. At this time, the family has asked for privacy, but wanted to share a brief message about how much NIRSA meant to their mother:
“If love could have kept her here, she would have lived forever. Mom loved NIRSA dearly—you were her family.
She enjoyed conferences; it was her family reunion. Seeing the students become professionals, and the professionals helping to form mentorships/friendships for lifelong bonds gave her such joy.
The love, support, passion, and dedication NIRSA has for its members and staff is second to none, and she was extremely proud of everyone. She was excited about the growth and development of NIRSA, where NIRSA is headed, and the compassion the members have for their profession. She often said Bill Wasson would be overjoyed for NIRSA’s future.
To sum up what NIRSA meant to her is difficult: You were the twinkle in her eyes, the smile on her lips, and the tears in her eyes when she knew she wouldn’t see you again.
Stay strong and know you were loved!”
Details about the family’s wishes for receiving messages and memories will be shared with members as they become available. NIRSA has shared a photo album with pictures of Lee on our Facebook page.
Memorial services
An AKA memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church—306 Peyton Rd SW—in Atlanta, GA on Friday, June 30 beginning at 10:00am. Mass will start at 11:00am and will be followed by the repast. Links for members to livestream the services are available through YouTube and Facebook.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in honor of Mama Wasson be made to the Wasson Endowment in the NIRSA Foundation. This endowment funds scholarships for students with a high G.P.A. to attend the NIRSA Annual Conference.
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Author’s note
A great debt of gratitude is owed to Stefani Plummer, Business Operations Manager at Arizona State University and longtime NIRSA volunteer. In 2021, during the pandemic, with the support of Lee’s daughter Marsha Shelton and NIRSA Senior Executive Assistant Elishea Borin, Stefani conducted an extensive interview with Lee. “I think you took me around the mountain and over the hills quite well,” Lee told Stefani near the conclusion of the interview. This “In Memoriam” reflection would not have been possible if not for Stefani granting NIRSA access to that recorded interview. Keep an eye out for a chapter about Mama Lee Wasson in a forthcoming book by Stefani and several coauthors.
Thanks are also due to Moe, Stan, Kevin, David, Laurie, Seneca, Wendy, Candice, Vicki, and all those who shared memories in support of this effort.
- If you are interested in highlighting your campus or a NIRSA member’s achievements on your campus, pitch us your ideas.
- If you would like to share historically significant milestones or legacy details with NIRSA, contact the NIRSA History and Legacy Committee.
Pam Watts is currently the Executive Director at NIRSA.
