Hard work prevails.

UJ’s first black, female graduate overcomes trials to lead a career of impact.

by Abigail (Greshik) Perrine ’03

Even as a child, Chrystal VeazeyWatson ’69, retired corporate lawyer and current UJ board member, had a plan and the determination to see it through. While other 8-year-olds at her Chicago public school were dreaming of becoming teachers and doctors, Chrystal knew her heart lay with corporate law.

Chrystal with mentee, Candy Jenao

The 1954 Democratic National Convention had proved a pivotal moment. To her mind, candidate Averell Harriman, a corporate lawyer, was clearly the better candidate to take on Eisenhower. Young Chrystal was so crushed when the nomination instead went to Adlai Stevenson II that her mother encouraged her to write a letter to Harriman, in which she talked about her own desire to become a corporate lawyer.

Though surprised, her parents supported her fully. According to Chrystal, “I come from a long line of teachers and preachers. When I started saying I wanted to be a lawyer, people would ask ‘Why don’t you want to be a teacher like your mother and her sisters?’ My father said, ‘Well, if she wants to be a lawyer, she can be a lawyer.’”

Fitting in at UJ—and Learning the Value of Hard Work

Though she’d never seen the campus, Chrystal headed to UJ to study political science in the fall of 1965. And though the school wasn’t lacking in female students, the same could not be said of racial diversity. “I was the only black female student. There had been a black man who’d graduated from Jamestown in 1954 or so, but there hadn’t been anyone black at the school since then.”

While at UJ, Chrystal discovered a love of art, as she learned to paint and sat as a model for art students. She also discovered the value of hard work, admitting she did not have good study habits. “At the end of my sophomore year, I had a 2.7 GPA, and was told that my grade point average suggested I didn’t have what it takes to get into law school.”

It was the wake-up call she needed. Chrystal proved her determination, immediately changing how she approached her studies. She worked hard to keep up—or get ahead—in her classes, and by the end of her junior year, her GPA had increased to 3.4. She received the Kroeze Award, given to the most improved Junior girl, and was invited to join Mrs. Kroeze for tea in her home.

In her senior year, Chrystal was surprised to learn—from the radio, the day after what she thought was a failed interview— that she had been named the North Dakota Fulbright nomination to go to Norway to study the low crime rate (though unfortunately, Norway ultimately did not participate that year).

Chrystal, having graduated from a high school class of 400, believes that one of the key strengths of UJ is its student-tofaculty ratio. She believes that UJ has continued to use its low student-to-faculty ratio to design programs that help students not only achieve their educational goals but also to become wellrounded people. Chrystal says, “I’m very proud of the programs at UJ. They’ve only gotten better at how they relate to and serve students.”

A Professional Life of Twists and Turns

After UJ, and with the Vietnam War picking up steam, Chrystal was off to study law at what is now known as the Northwestern Pritzger School of Law, where she had the opportunity to work for the NAACP Health Law Project in Washington, DC in the summer of 1971. It was then that she developed a desire to tackle the problem of health care access, believing the best way to address issues of inequity and access was from the inside. Much to the chagrin of her law school professors, Chrystal openly admits she didn’t even take the Corporations class in law school, saying, “I had wanted to be a corporate lawyer, and then I was so into saving the world—you know, civil rights, healthcare rights…it’s important to keep your options open.”

This desire to improve the world she lived in would be the cornerstone of a storied career that would take her first to a small firm, with a partner that represented Jesse Jackson and

Operation Breadbasket. But as a woman of color starting her legal career in the 80s, her professional life was not without its trials—including toxic workplaces, unpleasant partners, and inequitable compensation in comparison to her male peers.

Still, Chrystal was committed and continued to apply herself diligently, taking a position with Prudential in 1976. In 1982, Prudential nominated Chrystal for the President’s Executive Exchange Program, which took her to the Department of Transportation in DC from 1982 to 1983 to study prior poor investments. Chrystal’s recommendations for improvement were ultimately implemented in regulation governing the Maritime Loan, Grant and Subsidy programs.

After a successful, 27-year career with Prudential, Chrystal continued her work to improve access to healthcare with roles leading attorneys at Empire, which later became a part of Anthem, before her retirement in 2015.

The Importance of Giving Back

Chrystal has never been one to limit herself to professional endeavors. In the early 2000s, she returned to UJ to speak at the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Post retirement, she began volunteering with Renew Life Center, a Patterson, NJ nonprofit devoted to providing women with tools to overcome generational poverty. Chrystal remains a mentor to several graduates of the Renew Getting Ahead program today.

Chrystal continues to be a passionate advocate for UJ and its commitment to serving students. She became involved in UJ’s Jimmie Generational Scholarship, and after having been recruited for some time, joined the UJ board in 2017. She is currently finishing her second term as a trustee of the UJ board, where her focus is on Academic Affairs and Marketing & Admissions. In addition, she is the Chair of the Council at the Trinity Church of Livingston, NJ.