President's Message - February 2025

Julie Irene Bost Ed.D.

Courageous Leadership: A Tribute to Parthenia Cogdell  

During my year as President, I want to continue CEC’s mission to celebrate and elevate the profession by spotlighting those who make CEC extraordinary. In honor of Women’s History Month and the upcoming 50th Anniversary of IDEA, I am featuring an interview with Parthenia Cogdell. Parthenia is a trailblazer in CEC and special education, dedicated to breaking barriers and creating inclusive environments for individuals with disabilities and the professionals who serve them.

Long before Parthenia Cogdell became CEC’s first Black President, she was a teacher from North Carolina, waiting to interview for a job at Brewster High School in New York. It was 1964, and she was a Black woman in a predominantly white town. Amid the Civil Rights Movement, it was a time of great challenge and adversity. “The secretary made it clear that I should not want to be interviewed and that I would not want that job,” Parthenia said, recalling the heavily suggestive tone of a secretary who did not want a Black woman working there.

Parthenia did secure the job, but not without challenges. She lacked a background in special education and was the first and only special education teacher at Brewster High School almost a decade before the passage of IDEA. She felt alone as she faced a school environment that was, at best, indifferent to her success and, at worst, hoping for her failure. “I worked in the basement. No one worked with me. Nobody talked to me except the cafeteria people,” Parthenia recalled of her time that first year. “It was very difficult, but growing up in the South, it wasn't something I wasn't used to.”

Parthenia learned on the job, using her previously acquired knowledge from teaching elementary school students to instruct high schoolers while adapting her strategies as needed. Her efforts bore fruit when one of her students graduated by the end of her first year, a story so uplifting it made the local newspaper. Although Parthenia only spent one year at Brewster High School, it was the beginning of a career that would change her life.

The First of Many CEC Conventions

Three years after her first role in special education, Parthenia found herself again in a new place. This time, however, it was a much friendlier environment: the 1968 CEC Convention & Expo in New York City. As a teacher in New Jersey, she was invited to the Convention but didn’t know what to expect. She found much more than just a place to continue learning about the career in special education she had stumbled into. It took less than a minute for her to meet Jo Thomason, who would become a lifelong friend. “She was in the lobby when I came in, and I said to her, ‘I need to find the registration for this convention.’ And she said, ‘Oh, come on, I'll take you.” It was a serendipitous meeting that felt magical at that moment and even more so decades later. “Jo became the kind of friend everyone deserves, but not everyone has.”   

Despite living on the other side of the country, she and Parthenia remained essential parts of each other’s lives. “She was just a member but became one of my best friends. She was such a good friend that on my son's 16th birthday, he asked me, ‘Can we go to New Mexico with Aunt Jo and ride a motorcycle in the desert?’ That was what he wanted for his 16th birthday.”   

  Parthenia has attended almost every Convention since her first one in ‘68, missing only two over the last 57 years. For her, the Convention was the start of something much bigger than a few days of professional development. It was her introduction to a community of her people.

From Teacher to CEC’s First Black President

Parthenia spent the next decade in New Jersey, rising from a special education teacher to becoming increasingly crucial in the State’s Department of Education. This was during the formation and passing of IDEA, an essential time for education professionals. Parthenia found herself in a position to help shape how special education was taught in New Jersey. She went from being the supervisor of special education in her school district to the principal of the state’s first school for children with disabilities. Eventually, Parthenia was commissioned to oversee the building and supervision of 25 schools in the state.

While rapidly climbing the career ladder, Parthenia demonstrated this same ambition through her leadership within CEC. The Convention in New York inspired her to become increasingly active in CEC’s New Jersey chapter. Initially as an engaged member and, soon after, through various leadership roles. She became President of the New Jersey Council for Exceptional Children in 1974. She began representing the chapter at national events and serving on the membership services committee at the national level. By 1977, she was running for President of the national organization.  

Before running, being President was not something she had ever considered. Unbeknownst to her, a movement was evolving for CEC to elect a Black president, and her name quickly surfaced. A familiar face within that movement encouraged Parthenia and worked to convince her she was the right woman for the job. “Jo convinced me to be nominated,” Parthenia said. “I knew it wasn't going to be easy, and I knew there was going to be a lot of fight against it, but Jo said, ‘You have the personality and can do it.’ So, I said, ‘Okay, I'll try, Jo.”   

Parthenia won the 1977 election, and while President, she once again felt under pressure to be perfect while also feeling some people expected her to fail. She was a trailblazer. “I was showing the population of CEC at the time that a Black person could accomplish a leadership position and that we were not inferior.” As CEC’s President, she led the organization at an influential time. She attended the First World Congress for Special Education in Scotland and was honored to meet King Edward and Queen Elizabeth. “In 1978, that was a big statement,” Parthenia said of being a Black woman meeting the royal family. “I ended up in Ebony Magazine.” 

Parthenia Cogdell (left) and 2024 CEC President Dr. Kareem Thompson (right) present the CEC past-president’s gavel to outgoing President Dr. Andrea Jasper (middle).

Since serving her year as CEC’s President, Parthenia has remained active in CEC. She was also an influential figure in the New Jersey Department of Education for decades until she retired in 1998. She has won awards and recognition from CEC, the National Association for Equal Opportunity, and the National Alliance of Black School Educators. It would be easy to fade into the sunset and turn her attention to things other than CEC and special education. However, that was not her choice because this was always more than a career for her. It was, and still is, a calling.   

“CEC members are like family because they have been there when I needed them,” Parthenia said. “They have never failed me, and it's my job not to fail CEC. I'm going to make CEC as meaningful to everybody else as I possibly can, and I'm going to do my best to motivate people to do that until I take my last breath."     

On behalf of CEC, I sincerely thank Parthenia Cogdell for her courageous leadership, unwavering dedication, and positive impact. Parthenia's vision and commitment have guided us to new heights and a legacy that will continue to inspire us.