In the face of a global pandemic, taunted with racial and socioeconomic adversity, Mississippi native Deanna Hayden knew Howard University was the right place to effect change when she entered the institution’s hallowed grounds in spring 2021.
Amid the fallout of COVID-19 and a massive resurgence in the Black Lives Matter Movement, Hayden sought after the knowledge and support to champion the realities of the Black experience, diving headfirst into the intersections of race, philanthropy and local media as a means of progress in her rural home state.
Now, after four years, one dissertation and several global delegations for reparations and healing, the 27-year-old Ph.D graduate saw this mission culminate as she joined more than 3,000 graduates to celebrate Howard University’s 157th commencement ceremony on May 10.
“Leaving this institution doesn’t mean that I leave behind its values; it means that I carry that with me in everything that I do,” Hayden told The Informer. “Howard has been a true blessing in a climate like this, in a social and political environment such as this. [It] was designed for us by us, and it’s important that we continue that legacy.”
Hayden was among hundreds of thousands proudly donning Howard blue gowns, cultural paraphernalia, and customized caps on Saturday, as they embarked on their final walk across ‘the Yard,’ the university’s main campus where the commencement ceremony was held for the first time since 2019.
The momentous occasion was as much of a celebration as it was a call to action, bidding a profound promise of hope and charge to propel the next class of forward-thinkers and culture shapers.
As second-year university President Ben Vinson III pointed out, the graduating class is no stranger to making history. Per the approximate 3,240 graduation applications filed, this year’s graduating class was the largest in the history of Howard University, with graduates ranging from 19 to 72 years old.
Meanwhile, commencement traditions such as motivational orations and the presentation of honorary degrees reaffirmed the institution’s values of excellence and service.
While honorary recipients such as the Honorable Barabara Lee (Doctor of Laws); the Honorable Lilian Seenoi Barr (Doctor of Laws); Emery Neal Brown (Doctor of Science); Natasha Trethewey (Doctor of Letters); and commencement speaker LeVar Burton (Doctorate of Humane Letters) joined the alumni ranks, Vinson touted hopes for all graduates to leave the Northwest, D.C. campus moved in a deeper understanding of purpose and identity.
“You leave here not only with your degrees, but with discernment, with character, with purpose,” Vinson said. “You are standing at the edge of a new era, and as you walk across the stage this week, remember that your presence is your superpower, your preparation is your armor, and your purpose is your North Star.”
Propelling the Next Generation the Howard Way
In a proud full-circle reflection, 64th HU Student Association President Jay Jones addressed the “resilient and remarkable class of 2025,” reminiscent of the pivotal transformations led and endured across campus over the last four years.
Among the celebrated acts of resilience: the reconstruction of the Blackburn University Center, the restoration of the university’s R1 research status, the transition of a new university president, and the barrier-breaking leadership of both Jones and former Vice President Kamala Harris, an alumni of Howard University who went to become a triple trail blazer as the first woman VP.
Jones is the first trans person to hold the highest student office of any historically Black college or university (HBCU), and Harris is the first Black American and first Asian American to occupy the office.
“When you take a step back and look at all that we survived, all that we’ve accomplished, and all who we become,” Jones said to her fellow graduates, “it is clear that this is the time that we were made for.”
Burton triumphed on his own journey in a passionate testimony to the power of manifesting and delivering one’s gift to the world. He gave a nod to the crucial moments that shaped his lived experience, from core memories of “German shepherds and firehoses” to championing literacy on “Reading Rainbow” and spearheading Black culture with profound roles in the “Roots” miniseries and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Further, after notably attributing his foundation for reading and racial awareness to his mother, a fitting touch given the ceremony took place a day ahead of Mother’s Day, the 15-time Emmy award-winner candidly denounced the current state of Black America and a “country still addicted to racism.”
With African Americans suffering the brunt end of national threats against inclusive history, programs and education standards, Burton opted to remind listeners that it was the resilient hands of enslaved peoples that built the empire of America, and have since passed on a legacy to push the nation towards “its full potential.”
“Only in America could a descendant of slaves – for whom, simply knowing how to read just a few generations ago was a crime punishable by whipping or death – could grow up and become a celebrated champion for literacy and written word,” Burton said. “This is still a land of great promise and opportunity yet untold. I only wish for my country to live up to its original intention.”
Thus, Burton tasked graduates with the responsibility of seeking their own full potential to counterattack the nation’s forgotten founding proposition that “all men are created equal.”
“Remember that you are descended from some of the most resilient souls in the history of humanity…Go out there, deliver the gift that you’ve come to give, and do your utmost best to make this world a better one than the one we are handing to you,” he added, previously noting, “and whatever you do, do not allow fear to paralyze you into non-action.”
‘A New Renaissance: A Time to Really Start to Fly‘
As the university continues to celebrate its graduates, Vinson highlighted the class of 2025 as “new renaissance” not unlike the one seen in the 1920s.
Drawing a centennial connection, the university president highlighted the students and commencement of 1925, when notable alumni such as Alaine Leroye Locke, Zora Neale Hurston, and Charles Hamilton Houston channeled activation on Howard’s campus before going on to shape the movements of the Harlem Renaissance, civil rights, and African American literature.
Hayden, who attended the historically Black Spelman College in Atlanta for undergraduate school, considers community and excellence to be the core of her HBCU experience, redefining the latter as a “divine calling to a purpose.”
With promises to continue giving back to HBCUs, and hopes to inspire a similar connection in her own lineage, Hayden lauded the cultivating culture of historically Black institutions for instilling that sense of purpose while continuously pouring into its students, “even beyond just D.C.”
“At HBCUs, we learn the importance of community…that community is not just something that is temporary, but it is a constant in our lives,” Hayden told The Informer. “And with community, we’re able to achieve anything.”
Joed Ngangmeni, a computer science Ph.D graduate, said crossing the stage on May 10 proved to himself, and any other steward who’s been “the only Black person in the room,” that anything is “100% possible.”
“I don’t know what the future really holds for me yet, but it feels like this is gonna be the propelling moment,” said Ngangmeni. “It’s one of those moments that’s like a turning point…where I can really start to fly.”
Meanwhile, in his closing remarks, Vinson compelled the next class of change makers with a cheeky Star Trek reference amid a renewed sense of hope and a refueled call for change.
“You are not just part of a renaissance, you are the renaissance,” Vinson said. “Go boldly where no one has gone before, go bravely, go forward, as Bison.”
