Ceremony recognizes black graduates

Photo by Jonathan Rodgers

Jimmie L. Franklin, professor of history and assistant to the Provost, presented graduates with a black-and-gold Kente cloth stole to be worn during Commencement exercises

by Jessica Hathaway

For the seventh consecutive year, Vanderbilt graduates of African descent were recognized for their achievements during an event held the night before Commencement.

Francene Gilmer, director of the Career Center, hosted the ceremony. Gilmer and the staff members of the Black Cultural Center coordinated the event.

"We hope that tonight's ceremony will add a sense of greater significance to the graduation experience," she said to the candidates for graduation, friends and family who had gathered in the Stadium Club May 10.

Chancellor Gordon Gee addressed the crowd of those gathered to commemorate the achievements of the black graduates honored at the ceremony.

"I take enormous pride in the fact that we are here together as a University family to celebrate," said Gee.

Two students, chosen by their classmates to reflect upon their years at Vanderbilt, addressed an enthusiastic audience. Richard Carson, representing the graduate and professional students, shared a story of perseverance that related to his experiences as a black graduate student at Vanderbilt. After describing the tenacity he saw in his small nephew as he struggled to ride a bicycle far too large for his body, Carson said that many saw his pursuit of a post-graduate degree as a bicycle too big for him to ride.

"What's inside of us is bigger than that bicycle," said Carson. "Come on, let's ride."

Shawna Rasul, representing the students receiving undergraduate degrees, used one word to describe the 2001 graduates -- survivors.

"Though I have grown to love this prestigious University, I have been tried here," she said. "Looking back on it all, it has been an enjoyable, challenging ride."

Rasul, who was recognized with the Trailblazer Award for Unique Contributions to the Vanderbilt and Nashville Communities, claimed that her mother would receive "a $136,000 Mother's Day gift" the following morning, her diploma.

Vera Stevens Chatman, professor of the practice of human and organizational development; Stephanie Carter, president of the Organization of Black Graduate and Professional Students; and Gwendolyn Baines, administrative assistant at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, presented the Trailblazer Awards to several graduating students.

In addition to Rasul, Trailblazer Awards were given to C'reda Weeden, for leadership and community service; Brian Taylor, for athletics; and Maia Rosser and Julius Andrew Evans were recognized for cultural/artistic awareness through the performing arts.

Jimmie L. Franklin, professor of history and assistant to the Provost, and Yollette Jones, interim director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center and associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, presented each graduate with the black-and-gold Kente cloth stoles, which the graduates wore during Commencement exercises.

According to the University registrar, 110 black undergraduate and graduate students completed the requirements for degrees during the 200001 academic year.

For the first time since its inception, the 2001 Black Graduates' Recognition Ceremony sported its own banner. Similar to the ones representing the different schools of the University at the Commencement ceremony, the banner was displayed center stage for the duration of the event