A history of TWU in three generations

Kayden Young chooses path of mother, grandmother

August 21, 2024 – DENTON – Texas Woman's University is immersed in generational stories, from its first-generation programs to the legacies of its alumni. Here's one that reflects the last 50 years of the school's history.

It's the story of a family's journey through the injustices of segregation and racism, the struggles and sacrifices of the civil rights era, to finally lifting up the descendants of those who fought those fights and not only survived but transformed TWU, Texas and the world.

When Kayden Young, an incoming freshman from Forney, Texas, begins her first semester of college this fall, she will be a third-generation TWU student. Her mother, Kayla Young, graduated TWU in 1992, and her grandmother, Kaye Wade, graduated in 1973.

"That wasn't by design," Kayla said. "I have always been one of you choose your own path, I chose mine, and I'm thankful my mom did the same thing to me. She was like, wherever you want to go. It's really happenstance that I ended up at TWU."

There is, however, a strong family connection to the school. Two of Kayden's aunts also attended TWU, and Kayla's goddaughter, Anaiyah Stewart, is currently a student in nutrition and food science.

"Texas Woman's was one of the ones that I knew by heart," Kayden said. "They have so many resources open for us to know and help us go down the path that we want to go. It just made me feel like Texas Woman's was the place that I wanted to go. It just helped me feel like this was the place that I needed to be and wanted to be, and just because my mother and my grandmother were alumni."

This family story begins with Kaye Wade, who attended TWU from 1969-73. Her experience was not always so welcoming.

While the university today is a majority-minority school, it was a very different place when she took her first class. TWU had desegregated only eight years earlier in 1961, lagging behind other Texas colleges such as crosstown North Texas State (now the University of North Texas), which desegregated in 1956.

"I know it's changed tremendously," Wade said. "There's been a lot of changes in 50 years. I came from a small town in the civil rights era, so it was totally a different time. A lot of growth since the time I started."

Wade had planned to follow her parent's footsteps and attend Prairie View A&M, a historically black college and university. Her parents suggested a different direction.

"Because they were so into civil rights and making sure that I got all of the best opportunities, they insisted that I go to an integrated college," she said. "So that's how I ended up at TWU. They insisted that I expand myself and get more exposure."

Wade planned to major in occupational therapy, but those plans changed once she got to TWU.

"I changed my major not because I wanted to, but because I had to," Wade said. "Because of the atmosphere and the dynamics back then, basically, it was almost like I was forced to change if I wanted to get a degree. Occupational therapy was not a minority-friendly career back then. So that's why I changed to social work so that I could get my degree.

"Not only did I have a challenge of dealing with outright, blatant racism, I also became pregnant with Kayden's mother. I was only out for one semester because I was determined that I wasn't going to let those people that said I would never make it, I was not going to let them win."

Wade made the most of that hard-earned bachelor's degree. She added a master's degree from Prairie View and worked in social work for 50 years, and is now a substitute teacher and consultant for an office of Head Start, which promotes programs for pre-school children, infants and toddlers, and services for pregnant women.

"It made me a stronger person, and I instilled that in my daughter and granddaughter," Wade said. "I shared all of that with Kayden, and I think she's very in tune, hearing my story, I think it has been enlightening to her and it just makes her want to continue to achieve and to be the best that she could be because she saw what all I went through."

Twenty years later, Kayla Young's time at TWU was markedly different from that of her mother.

"My experience was pretty good," Kayla said. "I had challenges as well, but nothing like my mother."

Kayla joined Zeta Phi Beta sorority and earned a degree in fashion merchandise, and she speaks glowingly of her alma mater.

"I come back to homecoming," she said. "The school has changed. Some of the buildings are the same, but it has expanded. It's enhanced. And I love it.

"We happened to visit my sorority when they were having some function," Kayla said. "Kayden came and that was her first time on campus. She looked and said, 'I might consider going here.'"

Wade had mixed emotions when she heard Kayden was considering TWU, and when she was asked to join Kayden and Kayla in a visit to campus.

"But I was also happy that she was going to be going to a school where it all started out for me," Wade said. "It was very enlightening to see from which they came 50 years ago to where they are now. I'm just so thankful and grateful that Kayden gets the opportunity to start her career out there and to know and see from whence her grandmother came and then her mother. And to be a third generation is phenomenal. I cannot tell you how amazing that is and how amazing that feels."

"My mom really helped me make sure that Texas Woman's was going to be a good fit for me and make sure I would be comfortable going there," Kayden said. "She didn't really push the idea. If I wanted to apply to somewhere else, she wasn't going to be mad."

Once she settled on a university, Kayden turned her attention to fields of study. Her natural inquisitiveness has led to changing her major twice before her first class.

She was originally attracted by TWU's dance department and dance team, of which she will be a member. She gave thought to majoring in dance before deciding to major in English. Temporarily.

"I finally switched my major to criminal justice because it's something that I really want to do," Kayden said. "And I feel like Texas Woman's really helped me figure out the pathway that I would like to go down, because I want to be a crime-scene investigator."

"I think going into criminal justice is fitting for her because she's very caring about others, and she has a passion for people," Kaye said. "It makes my heart proud to see that in her and see how she's so willing to fight for others who are not as fortunate as she is and fighting for causes that no one else wants to fight for. She's a little breath of fresh air. She's an exceptional young lady."

"I'm telling her, have these experiences, soak in those memories and make connections, that's what keeps you connected to this campus and want to give more and live out your dreams," Kayla said. "I just can't wait to see all the wonderful things she does."