(BALTIMORE – December 16, 2024)—Wise words and exemplars of purpose, adversity, and growth illuminated Talmadge L. Hill Field House amidst a brisk and overcast day today at the 11th Fall Commencement Exercises of Morgan State University. Glowing faces decorated the arena, and the warm spirit of unbridled joy filled the atmosphere as more than 450 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral candidates received degrees during the ceremony, beginning their next chapter as graduates of Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, the third-largest historically Black institution in the nation.
Ed Gainey, mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a member of Morgan’s Class of 1994, gave an impassioned Commencement address, urging the candidates in the nearly complete venue to seek continual growth in pursuit of their purpose. Morgan President David K. Wilson and Kweisi Mfume, chair of the University’s Board of Regents and member of Morgan’s Class of 1976, conferred honorary Doctor of Public Service degrees from the University to Mayor Gainey and to Mary Elaine Proctor Blackwell of Morgan’s Class of 1949, who at age 96 is celebrating an 80-year commitment to service and promotion of her alma mater.
The wisdom and communication skills that helped him make history in 2021 as the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh, a city where Blacks account for less than a quarter of the population, were evident in Mayor Gainey’s address, as he connected his own life struggles and successes to those of Morgan’s latest graduating class and the University as a whole. Known for his effective focus on a progressive, inclusive agenda throughout his three-decade career in public service, Gainey told the audience that his life’s work began during his undergraduate years at Morgan after his Pittsburgh upbringing, born to a teenage mother and raised in poverty with his two siblings in a single-parent home.
“…Morgan State was the mother of my education. It was also the mother of my life,” Gainey said, prefacing the story of his involvement in the ultimately successful student protest at Morgan in 1990 to bring additional funding to the University from the State of Maryland. Kurt Schmoke, who was then mayor of Baltimore City, and Kweisi Mfume, then in his fourth year as a U.S. congressman from Maryland, were among the government officials who stood with the students and became Gainey’s role models for manhood and political leadership.
“Whatever you love that you would be willing to do for free is where you’ll find your purpose,” Gainey said. “…I need you to fall in love with adversity and stay away from controversy. I need you to understand that the only thing that’s strengthening you, that’s going to make you great in whatever profession you go into, is the amount of adversity God puts in your life to sharpen the gift that he gave you.”
“You’re guaranteed, if God wills, to grow old. What’s not guaranteed is whether you’ll grow up…. I need you to grow in character and integrity,” Gainey implored, as he made the case that growth requires continual learning. “…Life teaches every day…. Morgan State gave me a great education, but it taught me how to be a student.”
Gainey challenged Morgan’s Class of 2024 to celebrate their success then “go get it” by following his example. In his own work as mayor, he said, “I’m going to show you the student this HBCU created…. I’m going to show you exactly what it meant to come here and be ‘knowledged.’ I’m going to show you exactly what it meant for me to come here and learn, what it meant to leave here…to change lives, to make a difference for all of us.”
‘The Whole Package’
Hill Field House was well-supplied with Fall Class of 2024 members who exemplified the constant growth Mayor Gainey promoted.
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems graduate Carissa Fowlkes earned her degree as a nontraditional student and walked across the platform to receive her diploma 14 minutes before her daughter, Keniera Wagstaff, took to the stage to be acknowledged for her Bachelor of Science in Multi-Platform Production. Mother and daughter both say they benefited from their parents’ emphasis on education during their upbringing in Baltimore City, and both praise the education they received at Morgan State University, which strengthened their bond.
“I met some amazing young people, brilliant young men and women in my program, and they just made the experience so pleasant,” said Fowlkes, a transfer student from Baltimore City Community College who received a Charlotte W. Newcomb Scholarship from Morgan’s Center for Continuing and Professional Studies. “Most of the time I was the oldest person in the class, but they overlooked that. We got along.”
Wagstaff began as a Civil Engineering student at Morgan but changed majors to follow her passion for communications and youth empowerment. After coming to Morgan with high expectations, she had experiences that exceeded them, she said, among them the opportunity to host a town hall with local political leaders for young people in Baltimore City in her last semester; connecting with Maryland State Delegate Jackie Addison for her current job as director of communications; and making the contacts to launch a retail shop for young entrepreneurs downtown, now in development.
“I met a lot of new friends. The professors are amazing. Morgan just has the whole package if you ask me,” Wagstaff said.
Bachelor of Science in Psychology graduate Andrea Esivbekpe, originally from Lagos, Nigeria, was also raised by parents who placed a high value on higher education and is likewise bullish on Morgan. Esivbekpe was the first student to complete Morgan’s Bridge to Baccalaureate (B2B) program with Prince George’s Community College. B2B offers a summer bridge program, internships with faculty, professional development activities and weekly meetings with other B2B students and the program directors — Morgan psychology professor Amber Hodges, Ph.D., and Morgan biology professor Lisa Brown, Ph.D. — for fellowship and academic support.
“B2B was like my family at school,” Esivbekpe said. “…It was just so nice to have people that understand what you’re going through as a transfer student.”
Honors Earned
Morgan’s 92 Latin Honors candidates this fall — 22 summa cum laude, 24 magna cum laude and 46 cum laude — were recognized during the ceremony for their growth to the top of the University’s academic rankings. Three undergraduates with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages shared the title of class valedictorian: Duke Ogoti, Bachelor of Science in Biology; Lee Tomolonis, Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Environmental Design; and Yassin Omer, Bachelor of Science in Marketing. Oluwanifemi Mebude, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a 3.96 GPA, was named class salutatorian.
Exemplifying Morgan’s storied tradition of service and core values of leadership, excellence, and integrity are two standout graduates who were honored with Presidential Awards. Ololade Odutola, an Applied Liberal Studies degree recipient also received the President’s Second Mile Award for outstanding leadership and participation in student affairs. Interdisciplinary Global Perspectives and Practices graduate Willie Thomas received the President’s Award for Exceptional Creative Achievement for innovation and originality demonstrated in all facets of their student experience.
Capt. Rosalind Cooper, assistant professor of Military Science at Morgan, recognized the four bachelor’s degree candidates who were commissioned on Tuesday as U.S. Army second lieutenants after completing Morgan’s Bear Battalion ROTC program: Jeremiah Allen (B.S., Electrical Engineering), November Buchanan (B.S., Social Work), Jaylen Taylor (B.S., Marketing) and Genesis White (B.S., Management).
Katiana Guillaume, 2024–25 class president, thanked Morgan’s faculty and staff and the graduates’ families and peers for their support of the class and encouraged Morgan’s Fall 2024 graduates to rise above challenge and thrive, during her Salute to the Graduates address, before President Wilson gave his closing remarks.
“We have urged you to be committed to growing the future and leading that mixed-up world out there…And you have received your calling now to go out there on that world stage with Morgan pride, with Morgan dignity, with Morgan confidence, with remarkable vigor and enthusiasm because you are well prepared to meet the moment,” Wilson empowered the attentive assembly of newly minted Morgan graduates.
“Don’t forget as you climb higher and higher on that ladder of success, don’t forget to reach back and assist those students who will follow in your footsteps. They will be inspired by your example and by your record of achievement,” Wilson continued. “…Go out there and make the world a better place.”
About Morgan
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 150 academic programs leading to baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degrees, or certificates. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
