JACKSON, Mississippi — Jackson State University honored its Spring 2026 graduates Tuesday at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center, with keynote speaker Jelani C. Zarif urging students to treat their degrees as calls to service and leadership.
Denise Jones Gregory, Ph.D., Jackson State’s 14th president, presided over her first commencement since being named in April and praised the class for demonstrating the university’s mission of academic excellence, leadership development and student success.
Zarif, an award-winning researcher who holds the Robert E. Meyerhoff endowed professorship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, told graduates that success is built through sustained effort. “It’s not necessarily a sprint; it’s a journey—and the journey is worth it,” he said. He added, “Your degree is not just a personal achievement— it is a responsibility to serve, to lead and to uplift others.”
Speakers and graduates highlighted personal perseverance. Tameka J. Battle of Jackson earned an Education Specialist degree in K–12 administration and supervision while undergoing breast cancer treatment. “This degree was very hard for me,” she said. “While within the program here at Jackson State, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.” Battle said faculty and staff supported her and that she was diagnosed cancer-free in February 2026.
The ceremony also recognized longtime alumna Edna Carolyn Frazier McCallum of JSU’s “Golden Class,” who returned decades after earning degrees in music and education, and international graduate Shadrack Barffour Awuah of Ghana, who received a master’s in public health after studying medicine in Ukraine. Doctoral graduate Armando Rijo of southern New Jersey earned a Ph.D. in urban higher education and credited JSU’s cohort model for his success. Jackson State, a historically Black public university in Jackson, draws students for its research and community focus. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
