Underneath stormy skies however with spirits hovering, Stillman School celebrated its resilient Class of 2025 with an unforgettable graduation ceremony, highlighted by a strong message from Melonie D. Parker, Google’s vp of Worker Engagement.
Held inside Birthright Alumni Corridor because of inclement climate, the occasion honored 121 graduates—43 males and 78 girls—who’ve achieved outstanding success. Over 65 % earned honors, a milestone that displays the establishment’s unwavering dedication to tutorial excellence.
Parker, a seasoned govt and champion for fairness in tech and past, took the stage with a message each graduate wanted to listen to:
“Stillman, by its very existence, tells you that challenges are usually not cease indicators,” she stated. “Challenges are invites to innovate, persevere, construct one thing significant, even when the trail appears unclear.”
Her phrases struck a chord with the graduates, who’ve endured and tailored via unsure faculty years, from a worldwide pandemic to financial shifts.
“Stillman endured. It tailored. It discovered new power. This wasn’t simply institutional survival. It was an indication of what a dedicated group can obtain,” she continued.
An HBCU graduate herself, Parker is aware of a factor or two about turning challenges into alternatives. A proud alumna of Hampton College (B.A., Mass Communications) and Villanova College (M.A., Human Sources), she has constructed a 30-year profession main transformative change throughout main companies.
At Google, Parker has spearheaded the corporate’s racial fairness commitments and led efforts to shut alternative gaps throughout the tech trade and past. Her mantra, “we exist to shut gaps,” has turn into a rallying cry for significant affect.
Earlier than Google, she held management roles at Sandia Nationwide Laboratories and Lockheed Martin, usually breaking boundaries as the primary Black lady to carry govt roles in areas historically closed to girls and folks of shade.
The ceremony wasn’t simply about celebration—it was about transferring ahead. On behalf of Google, Parker offered Stillman School with a $30,000 unrestricted reward, a big contribution that can help ongoing pupil success and innovation and encourage hope and optimism for the long run.
“The partnership between Stillman School and Google is one rooted in a shared mission and imaginative and prescient,” she stated. “At Google, we attempt to make info universally accessible and helpful, and this aligns completely with Stillman School’s mission to foster tutorial excellence and empower numerous populations for management and repair.”
In recognition of her management and dedication to HBCUs, Parker obtained an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, offered by Stillman President Dr. Yolanda W. Web page and Board Chairman Joe Hampton.
Dr. Web page opened the ceremony with a lighthearted and uplifting notice:
“We’re not going to let this rain rain on this glorious day for the Class of 2025.”
And so they didn’t. The vitality within the room was electrical—lower than two hours of speeches and celebration that despatched graduates out into the world with goal, energy, and satisfaction.
The recurring theme for the Class of 2025 was clear: Resilience isn’t simply survival—it’s technique. It’s the inspiration upon which new legacies are constructed. Like Parker’s, these new legacies are ones of innovation, range, and social change.
Stillman’s latest alums now be part of a protracted line of visionaries, trailblazers, and change-makers—and if Dr. Melonie D. Parker’s story is any indication, their future is brighter than ever.