Livingstone Sophomore Devinae Haywood Active In Many Ways

Sophomore Zionite Devinae Lynn Haywood is etching her name in stone at Livingstone College and the Rowan-Salisbury Community.

Since her freshman year at the college, she has been actively engaged in several activities. Devinae successfully transitioned in the collegiate atmosphere with the AMEZ Student Council as an official “queenly” representative. As Miss AMEZ Student Council, she worked closely with the Women’s Homes and Overseas Missionary Society’s BUDS of Promise on the Salisbury District and represented the council in events such as the homecoming and MLK parades. Inspired and ignited to make a difference in her community, Devinae became heavily involved with Livingstone College’s Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) whereas her peers elected her as Chapter President. In this role, Devinae supported Livingstone College’s holistic mission and aided Livingstone College students in Voter Awareness and Registration. Moreover, she served as a liaison between the college and the local Salisbury Chapter, whereas her duties included political activism through educational resources, awareness workshops, and student engagement.

One of Devinae’s highlights was the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) March in Raleigh, North Carolina. Standing alongside other North Carolinians under the leadership of State NAACP President William Barber, Devinae let her voice be heard as a person who recognized the need for Voter Awareness and the injustice in the newly constructed NC Voter ID Laws. Since this law has been repealed, Devinae says “I am quite pleased with the ending results. These new implementations were nothing but another round of malevolent Reconstruction Era practices, such the grandfather clause, literary tests, and the poll tax that many southern states enforced to discourage and prevent black voters. We are all Americans and as an American, our Constitutional Rights should not be violated or imposed upon in any measure. I saw the NC Laws as just that. I am elated the determining bodies agreed with me.”

Lastly, Devinae became an active member of the Student Government Association as a Student Senator. As a legislative officer, Devinae worked closely with her peers to create and amend several student-organization constitutions. It was during this encounter, she witnessed the hard work of the women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, and soon gained membership in the Sigma Chapter at Livingstone College. Today, Devinae is committing her full-time efforts to Student Government Association (SGA) as Chair of the Community Development Committee. She lives a life of inspiration with the scripture Habakkuk 2:2 in her heart, “And the LORD answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

Devinae is a member of Daniel Chapel in Phoenix, IL, but as a college student, she attends Rock Hill in Concord, NC.