Valerie Jean Miller '84 has been pinned down by sniper fire, had knives pulled on her and witnessed the aftermath of train wrecks and airplane crashes. As a paramedic lieutenant in the Emergency Medical Services of the Fire Department, Miller spent more than a decade working the night shift in New York City's impoverished areas. Much of that time was during the crime-ridden 1980s.

"It was like being in Vietnam," Miller said. Shootings were regular. She has been bitten and nearly pushed out a window. She has supervised rescue efforts for train wrecks and worked two airplane crashes. As a testament to her capabilities, Miller was a member of the Dignitary Protection Unit, which escorts the president and other officials during visits to New York City.

Miller's first experience with emergency medicine was in the Emergency Medical Training (EMT) course she completed during a Jan Plan at Colby. In 1986 she became a licensed paramedic in New York.

The Bronx native and one-time hospital candy-striper soon found herself at multiple shootings and drug overdoses, lugging patients down dark apartment house stairways and even up sheer concrete walls. Miller's territory included Harlem and Washington Heights, a notorious drug haven, and the arduous street duty took its toll.

The single mother of a 6-year old son, Miller has suffered two herniated disks and undergone three hand surgeries, all work-related. Her dominant hand is partially paralyzed. In 1996 doctors said she might never use it again. However, several months after surgery she played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano. "The doctors said Œno,' but God said Œyes,'" she explained simply.

Miller attributes her positive perspective to her religious faith. "I wouldn't have made it mentally without God," she said.

Miller's commitment extends to Mayflower Hill. She is a former president of her class and a member of the Alumni Council. She also is a member of the Admissions Committee of the Alumni Council and hopes to attract more minorities to the College, which "is going in the right direction." As a student she was one of 10 inaugural Bunche Scholars, a member of the Chorale and of the Early Music Group and participated in various musical productions.

Miller continues to sing--as soprano in two successful gospel groups, one based at a radio station and the other at the church she attends. Both groups have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Meadowlands and Nassau Coliseum, and both recently released CDs.

On the job front, Miller left the streets in 1998 to become an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator for the Fire Department's Bureau of Intergovernmental Affairs. She was the only African-American in her EEO class, which prepared investigators to probe allegations of racial discrimination and other EEO violations. "We try to change people's behavior at work," Miller said. "We try to tell them what's acceptable in the workplace."

While she has not come under sniper fire in her new post, the job is not without conflict.

"I did receive one threat since I moved indoors," Miller noted, but as she did when she worked the streets, she takes that in stride. "It's a definite challenge," she said. "It's not the same, but it's definitely a challenge."

–Alicia Nemiccolo MacLeay ’97