Valedictorian
On April 30, the achievements of Black students in McGill’s Class of 2023 were celebrated at the annual Black Grad gala. Organized by the Black Students’ Network of McGill, the sold-out event was held at the Omni Hotel. The event included speeches from this year’s Black Grad valedictorians, outstanding students who have earned the respect of […]
On April 30, the achievements of Black students in McGill’s Class of 2023 were celebrated at the annual Black Grad gala. Organized by the Black Students’ Network of McGill, the sold-out event was held at the Omni Hotel. The event included speeches from this year’s Black Grad valedictorians, outstanding students who have earned the respect […]
Teresa Tolo is graduating with a major in Economics and a double minor in International Development and Management. On May 1, 2022, the fourth annual Black Grad celebrated the achievements of Black students in McGill’s Class of 2022. The daylong event included speeches from this year’s Black Grad valedictorians, outstanding students who have earned the […]
Tracey Meares was awarded the title on April 16 by the superintendent of Springfield Public Schools District 186 after a screening of the documentary “No Title for Tracey,” which recounts her story. Despite earning superior grades, Meares was shared the title of “Top Student” with a White student at her 1984 graduation. In the years […]
In 1984, Tracey Meares was on her way to becoming her Illinois high school’s first Black valedictorian, with the highest academic ranking at Springfield High. Instead, she was declared “top student” – alongside Heather Russell, a white student. Thirty-eight years later, Meares is valedictorian at last, after she was finally presented with the title last […]
A State Journal-Register article previewing Tracey Meares’ keynote speech at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast in Springfield in 2019 referred to her as “the 1984 Springfield High School valedictorian.” “When I was talking to Allan Woodson (from Frontiers International, who invited Meares), he said, ‘I thought she was the valedictorian,'” recalled Carolyn Blackwell, Meares’ mother […]
Dominique DiSpirito of Woonsocket, Rhode Island is the 2022 University of Maine Valedictorian and the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Honors College. DiSpirito is a political science major, with minors in legal studies, and ecology and environmental sciences, as well as an Honors College student. She is a 2021 Truman Scholar, and her other numerous […]
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