Carol Rhodes Sibley '23

Alumnae Achievement Awards 1975

Educator, Community Activist

Carol Rhodes Sibley, a graduate of the class of 1923, was a prominent figure in the Berkeley, California community from the 1960s through the 1980s. During the 1940s and 1950s, she and her husband, Robert Sibley, who served as the executive manager of the California Alumni Association, entertained generations of University of California at Berkeley’s faculty, alumni and students. They co-authored the book University of California Pilgrimage: A Treasury of Tradition, Lore and Laughter, a collection of their memories of that time.

In 1961, Sibley served as the president of the Berkeley Board of Education, and she, alongside many citizens groups and other members of the board, began to prepare a school integration plan. During her tenure as president, Sibley oversaw the first successful voluntary desegregation of a public school district in the United States. She was also actively involved in community service programs and initiatives. One such program was the charitable organization A Dream for Berkeley, which facilitated cross-cultural understanding among the numerous groups within the Berkeley area through community events and social service projects. In addition, she co-founded the All Berkeley Coalition (ABC) in 1981 as an organization that joined the Republican and Democratic forces in the Berkeley political arena.

Sibley passed away in 1986.