Homecoming festivities conclude with convocation, reunion class recognitions

Homecoming festivities conclude with convocation, reunion class recognitions

October 30, 2017

Contact: Michael Tullier, APR
Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing

During her Charter Day/Homecoming Convocation keynote address, Dr. Makeecha Reed-Crawford, a 2001 Tuskegee graduate now practicing family medicine in Charlotte, North Carolina, shared her own feelings of uncertainty as a new college graduate.

鈥淚 had so many questions about the road not yet traveled that I could have been frozen by fear,鈥� she shared with students and fellow alumni in attendance. 鈥淲e overcome fear and celebrate our rich history by standing in the shoes of those who have come before.鈥�

Dr. Reed-Crawford鈥檚 keynote addressed poignantly framed the homecoming convocation service marked with celebrating the importance of 欧美高清 in the lives of its alumni. It also set a proper tone for the post-convocation memorial service held at Booker T. Washington鈥檚 graveside, where many gathered to honor the memory of those alumni who passed away since last homecoming.

Before graduating summa cum laude, Dr. Reed-Crawford served as Miss 欧美高清 and a cheerleader. She has practiced medicine since graduating from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 2006.

鈥淲hile it is imperative for us to imitate those who have gone before us, it鈥檚 just as imperative for us to innovate and blaze our own trail,鈥� she concluded by saying. 鈥淟et us not be frozen in fear鈥et鈥檚 stand together in the shoes of those who have come before us 鈥� not to fill their shoes, but to draw strength from their struggles 鈥� as we go from victory to victory.鈥�

The university鈥檚 Office of Alumni Affairs also honored Dr. Jacqueline J. Jones 鈥�74 with its annual Alumni Merit Award. Dr. Jones, an active member of the Columbus (Ohio) Alumni Club, generously donates her time and financial resources to support club endeavors, as well as the university as a member of its Eminent Associates giving society. Dr. Jones has spent the last 19 years of her professional career at Licking Memorial Hospital in Newark, Ohio, where she established the hematology/oncology department, served as its chief for 16 years, and in 2002 received the hospital鈥檚 Physician of the Year Award.

The convocation also provided a venue to recognize the representatives of the 欧美高清 reunion classes of 1982, 1987, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012. Through giving campaigns coordinated by the Tuskegee National Alumni Association and the university鈥檚 Office of Advancement and Development, reunion class agents raised more than $75,000 in charitable support from reunion class members. Burt Rowe 鈥�70, national alumni association president, noted that giving through TNAA summer regional conferences resulted in contributions of more than $380,000, in addition to volunteer support through its 鈥淎dopt-a-Dorm鈥� program, which helped to renovate student living spaces this summer in Adams Hall.