Reaching Back to Move Forward and Lifting as We Climb
Students, their families, faculty and staff came together in the Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC) on May 27 for our third annual Sankofa Celebration to honor our 2025 graduates who identify as part of the African diaspora.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see family members on stage presenting Sankofa Stoles to their sons and daughters,” said Professor Ernie Jackson, Co-Director of the Music Production Program, who was also at the first and second Sankofa Celebrations. “I love this time of year.”
Renee Rhodd, Director of the Transfer Resource Center, agreed. "This is a wonderful celebration. I am so excited for the students—it means so much to them.”
Host Tikola Russell, Dean for Students, Office of Community Standards, welcomed family, friends, administrators, alumni, and soon-to-be Sankofa graduates, thanking Queensborough for making this event possible. She then turned to the students. “We are all here to celebrate you and all you have achieved — you made it! Stay true to who you are, hold fast to your values.”
President Christine Mangino offered congratulations, remarking, “This is a space where you can honor yourselves in a culturally relevant way—an example of the culture of care that Queensborough practices every day. I am incredibly proud of you!”
Additional speakers included Jamal Biggs, Director of the Male Resource Center, Malik Stukes, President of the Black Student Union, and Class of 2025 Valedictorian Emmanuel Ford. Emmanuel was born blind with cerebral palsy, leaving doctors at the time to conclude that he wouldn’t survive. He beat the odds and survived, but that triumph gave way to an educational career filled with naysayers who believed he wouldn’t even be able to graduate high school, much less enter college. Yet again, he proved his critics wrong and made it to Queensborough where he thrived.
Emmanuel said, “Our ancestors faced many challenges but were determined to remove barriers so that future generations would not be marginalized. Education gives you a voice, a seat at the table- input into policies for people of color and people with disabilities.”
As the Sankofa graduates crossed the stage to receive their Sankofa Stole they passed a large backdrop featuring photos that appeared in Queensborough’s 1962 Aurora Yearbook of the first four Black degree students: Andrew Davis, Associate in Arts (A.A.), Beatrice Jackson, Associate in Arts (A.A.), Bernette Ford, Associate in Arts (A.A.), and Donald Hamilton, Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) These graduates of Queensborough had stories of their own--trailblazers for the next generation to stand on their shoulders and realize their dreams.
The Sankofa Celebration was sponsored by the QCC Incubator, part of the first cohort of four community and senior colleges selected to receive funding from the CUNY Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Incubator to facilitate the creation of equitable spaces on campus. The Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA), the Student Government Association (SGA), and the Black Student Union (BSU) were co-sponsors of the event.
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