From Student to Staff Member to Graduate: Miles College Alumnus Makes History

Miles College has never simply been a college to me. It has always been home.

 

My connection to this institution is rooted in family, faith, service, and legacy. Long before I walked the campus as a student, Miles College was part of my life through my parents, both proud graduates of this historic institution.

 

 

My father served as a mathematics professor at Miles College, where he helped shape young minds and showed students the value of learning and discipline. My mother served in the Office of the President during the tenure of Dr. Albert J. Sloan II, contributing to the daily work that supported the institution's leadership. Through their example, I came to understand that Miles College was more than a place to earn a degree. It was a place where people were prepared, supported, and pushed to become who they were called to be.

 

 

As a student, I embraced every opportunity I had to serve and lead. I had the honor of serving as Vice President of the Pre-Alumni Council and as Junior Class President. Those experiences strengthened my passion for student engagement, alumni relations, and the college's continued growth. During my junior year, I, along with several classmates, helped establish the Miles College Golf Team. What began as an idea to create another opportunity for students became part of the student experience for future Golden Bears.

 

While attending Miles College, I also interned in the Office of Development. That opportunity gave me firsthand experience in advancement, fundraising, and alumni engagement. It also helped shape my professional path and gave me a deeper appreciation for the work that keeps institutions like Miles College moving forward. Today, serving as Director of Alumni and External Affairs for the same institution that helped develop me is a true full-circle moment. To now help lead engagement efforts for the college that poured so much into me is both humbling and deeply personal.

 

 

I was blessed to earn my undergraduate degree during the administration of Dr. George T. French Jr., a time that encouraged students to lead boldly and think beyond limitations. Years later, watching my brother graduate under the leadership of President Bobbie Knight became another proud chapter in our family’s Miles College story. Now, under President Knight’s historic leadership, I have the honor of earning my Master of Science in Management as part of the inaugural graduate school class at the very institution that has shaped generations of my family.

 

As a proud member of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and a second-generation Milean, this moment represents far more than personal achievement. It is a continuation of the legacy my family has built through education, faith, leadership, and service. Every classroom, every opportunity to lead, and every relationship formed at Miles College has helped shape the man and professional I am today.

Receiving my master’s degree from Miles College is deeply meaningful. It reminds me that legacy is carried through the work we do, the people we serve, and the doors we help open for those who come after us.

 

I am proud to continue my family’s connection to this great institution. I am proud to serve the college that helped shape me. And I am even prouder to stand as a product of the excellence Miles College has represented for generations.

Miles College will forever be a part of who I am, and I will forever be grateful to be called a Golden Bear.