The SCHOLAR Certificate – which stands for Stewardship, Community History and Opportunities for Leadership and Academic Readiness – is a 10-11 credit certificate program that gives students structured, hands-on experience aimed at building professional skills and strengthening local partnerships. It is now required for all incoming Bloomfield College students, with transfer students able to opt in.

By asking students to do rigorous, research‑based work about communities they know best, the certificate is designed to build academic confidence and stronger writing and critical thinking skills from the very first semester. This foundation enables them to complete community‑engaged projects embedded in SCHOLAR‑designated courses throughout the curriculum.

The initiative reflects Bloomfield’s mission as a Predominantly Black and Hispanic‑Serving Institution, helping students connect their coursework with the histories, identities, neighborhoods and organizations that shape their lives.

What ‘Community Co‑Design’ Means

At the heart of the certificate is “community co-design,” the concept faculty developed to guide SCHOLAR courses, says Nora McCook, Cyrus H. Holley Professor in Applied Ethics and Associate Professor of Writing. McCook, whose background is in critical literacy studies and community engagement, sees it as a way to make learning deeply personal and genuinely collaborative.

“If students care about what they’re doing, if they recognize that this is about them, but also about them giving back, it really is powerful to set that tone, right at the beginning of a college career,” McCook says.

The certificate builds on three core elements:��

1. Reflection and self-awareness
2. Reciprocity and exchange
3. Culture and history

The first two come from long-established community engagement traditions. The third – culture and history – is the distinctive piece Bloomfield adds in terms of community engagement, scholarship and practice.

The first course to carry the SCHOLAR designation was Writing 105, Bloomfield’s first-year writing course, which McCook and First-Year Writing Director Freddie Harris piloted last summer. They shifted the curriculum so that students completed a multi-part autoethnographic project centered on a community they belong to.

Odyeli Ramos Tobar drew on her love of pupusas to explore the connections between culture, cuisine and community.

Odyeli’s Story: Culture, Cuisine and Community

Odyeli Ramos Tobar was part of the first group of students to undertake the project. A first-generation college student from West Orange, New Jersey, she chose Bloomfield for its Nursing program and small size, and found her first writing assignment unexpectedly meaningful.

Odyeli chose the Hispanic community she grew up in, but decided to focus even more specifically on pupusas, the traditional Salvadoran dish that connects her to her home and its indigenous history. She researched how pupusas are made, where the best ones are found, and the centuries-old traditions and rituals around them.

“I was really excited about my research because I grew up with pupusas,” she says of her childhood in El Salvador. “It was a tradition for me to buy it every weekend.”

For her, that made the writing feel different from a typical assignment. “You’re not doing it because someone told you to, it’s because it comes from you.” That sense of ownership, her professors note, is exactly what helps students push their writing, research and analysis to a higher level.

Growing a SCHOLAR Campus

For faculty, the pilot confirmed they had tapped into something powerful. McCook believes that in an era of AI, it matters that students see the work as both personal and communal, because that investment helps them do more authentic, deeper academic work.

As the model developed, Bloomfield’s leadership saw that it expressed something essential about the college. Today, Writing 105 serves as the first required SCHOLAR course for incoming students, and Bloomfield is expanding SCHOLAR electives so students can complete the certificate on top of their degree.

Faculty across disciplines have stepped forward to adapt courses. Planned SCHOLAR courses include Introduction to Informatics, a section of Intro to Game Design, a Theater in Practice course that recently culminated in a public monologue performance on the steps of Talbott Hall, Becoming a Changemaker – Intro to Social Innovation, Advocacy in Action, and special topics courses in Writing and Africana Studies. A community garden course with Newark-based nonprofit STEAM Urban is also continuing as a SCHOLAR course.

In Nursing, Foundations of Nursing and Community Nursing will both be SCHOLAR courses, giving transfer students to that program a path to complete the certificate with just one additional class.��

“Community-building is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, but it’s also about heart, ethics and practical skills students can carry into their careers,” McCook says.

Ready to Start Your College Journey?

Since Bloomfield College officially became Bloomfield College of Ģ����Ƶ, students have gained expanded academic options, more student life activities and access to Ģ����Ƶ’s resources while still keeping their home base on a smaller campus.

Learn more about��

“We have a robust offering compared to most of our competitors, and we offer lots of different times, days and modalities,” says Summer, Winter and Early College Programs Director Kirsten Tripodi.

There’s Still Time to Register

You decide how much of your summer you want to spend studying. These Summer Sessions are still available but don’t delay as the classes start soon:

• June 15 – July 14 (4-week session)
• ��July 1 – August 19 (7-week session)
• ��July 20 – August 4 (4-week session)

Whether you want to brush up on or, as our course catalog shows, we have you covered.

If you’re not sure what to take, Tripodi advises: “Check with your advisor to make sure it’s the right class to take.” She also suggests that students check with Red Hawk Central to see if financial aid is available.

5 Strategic Benefits for Currently Enrolled Students

If you need more good reasons to take a Summer Sessions course, here are five:

1. Core Courses��– Check that prerequisite off your list so you can take that class you’re excited about next semester.
2. ��Boost Your Resume��– Expanding your skills in a particular area or learning new ones can help with your career goals.
3. Learn a New Language��– Speaking more than one language is always a plus, especially if you want to travel or work in other countries.
4. More Attention��– Smaller class sizes during summer means you can get more individualized attention and get to better know your classmates and professors.
5. Love of Learning – If you consider yourself a lifelong learner, there’s no time like the present to learn something new.

Ready to plan your summer?

Log into and register today.

Still have questions about Summer Sessions?��We’re here to help. Reach out to summer@montclair.edu.

In her new position, she will play a pivotal role in aligning the University’s enrollment goals with its mission to advance access, academic excellence and public impact. She will also lead the development and execution of a comprehensive, data-informed strategic enrollment plan that
aligns with institutional goals and academic priorities while establishing short-and-long-term enrollment objectives across Ģ����Ƶ’s 13 colleges and schools and all academic levels.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Roman to Ģ����Ƶ,” says Interim Provost Fatma Mili. “Her commitment to broadening opportunities for students to pursue higher education makes her someone who embodies the institution’s mission. We look forward to welcoming someone with her passion for student success to our community.”

Roman has led innovative, data-informed enrollment strategies focused on expanding access and opportunities for students at institutions including Rutgers University-Camden, the University of Cincinnati and most recently the University of Delaware. She has implemented systems across admissions, one stop, and financial aid, contributing to the shift to automated and streamlined processes and making the admissions experience smoother for students.

Her work has taken her all over the world to work with government officials to reimagine educational systems, including working with local governments on enrollment strategy through a USAID grant in Paraguay and Puerto Rico.

“I am incredibly honored to join Ģ����Ƶ at such an exciting moment in the university’s trajectory,” says Roman. “Ģ����Ƶ’s commitment to access and student success feels personal and aligns with who I am at my core. I am excited to help shape the future of the University and create opportunities for New Jersey residents and beyond.”

Roman holds a PhD in Public Affairs-Community Development and a master’s degree in Community Development from Rutgers University-Camden, and an MBA in Management from SUNY-Oswego.

“The most rewarding part of working for NJHAP is the knowledge that I am making a true difference in the lives of the patients we work with,” says first-year audiology doctoral student Julianna Mijal.

Second-year audiology student Emma Simas agrees: “You feel nearly as much joy as they do when it’s their turn to get hearing aids. I am always incredibly grateful when they give us a call or send an email or letter and tell us all the new things they are hearing and experiencing with their new hearing aids.”

As students in the only Doctor of Audiology program in the state, Mijal and Simas are responsible for refurbishing donated hearing aids and working with a network of audiologists across the state to distribute them to people with hearing difficulty who may not receive hearing healthcare services otherwise. With oversight from Audiology Clinical Preceptor Elena Kagan-Weitz, they oversee the New Jersey Hearing Aid Project (NJHAP), which is housed in Ģ����Ƶ’s Communication Sciences and Disorders program. The project is a partnership with the state’s .

“Working with NJHAP has been an excellent lesson in humility and humanity,” says Mijal. “Connecting with patients human-to-human and understanding the multifaceted lives that they lead outside of our clinic is key in making them feel seen and heard, which leads to the best care outcomes.”

“The hearing aid project is way bigger than us. I’m so incredibly proud to be part of this project, this community and so intertwined in audiology and hearing aid fitting and selection.”�� �� �� ��~ Emma Simas

Kagan-Weitz, who serves as principal investigator and director of the NJHAP, says that in addition to providing people in need with hearing care, it provides audiology students an opportunity to learn new skills. “All of our students have worked directly with NJHAP patients in providing them with audiological care, which incorporates our program’s exceptional education with community outreach for underserved populations.”

The mission: hearing health as social justice

The Audiology program is part of Ģ����Ƶ’s College for Community Health, which operates on the principle that “health is a cornerstone of social justice.” For many low-income seniors and individuals with hearing disabilities, the high cost of hearing aids – which can run as high as $7,000 and are not covered by Medicare – can impede them from navigating life.

Elizabeth Hill, director of the, a part of New Jersey’s Department of Human Services says hearing aids are often “the third most expensive purchase a person might make, after a house and a car.” In addition, she adds that “one of the biggest barriers that individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing face is access to hearing health care… our mandate is to eliminate barriers to participate in society where people live and work and interact.”

Hill says that the partnership with Ģ����Ƶ is essential for the program’s success: “We are one of the most comprehensive hearing aid programs in the country. We are very grateful for the partnership.”

How the partnership works: a cycle of giving

Ģ����Ƶ serves as the operational hub for the NJHAP, which started in 2013, and operates as a student-led “hearing aid bank” that provides hearing devices to recipients. It works because of:

• Donations: The program relies on public donations of used hearing aids to maintain its inventory. Donors are encouraged to mail their devices to New Jersey Hearing Aid Project, Ģ����Ƶ, 1515 Broad Street, Bldg. B, Bloomfield, NJ 07003.
• Refurbishment: Under Kagan-Weitz’s supervision, Ģ����Ƶ students work in a state-of-the-art lab to refurbish these devices. If devices cannot be refurbished at the University they are sent to outside hearing aid laboratories.
• Distribution: In collaboration with participating audiology clinics and a Ģ����Ƶ mobile audiologist serving 14 counties, the hearing aids are custom-fitted and provided free of charge to eligible NJ residents aged 65+ or those on Social Security Disability Income who have hearing loss.

A learning opportunity for current, prospective students

For audiology students, the NJHAP offers experience that blends professional training with community impact. Second-year audiology student Emma Simas says Ģ����Ƶ has helped almost 100 people get hearing aids and other assistive listening devices in the past year, and there is currently a six-month wait list.

Career Readiness: Students gain hands-on experience. Kagan-Weitz says the audiology doctoral students work together to manage the daily operations of the NJHAP. Selected for their qualifications, she says, the students are “professional, consistently kind and highly collaborative, with a genuine willingness to support others.”

Simas adds: “The Hearing Aid Project has kept me hands-on since Day One. I’ve had early exposure to all the hearing aid brands, manufacturers and history of the technology and how far it’s come.”

Lessons in Client Care: Audiology students provide client care in real time. Simas says she’s learned to manage the expectations of patients and work to establish realistic goals and meet families where they are in the process. “Many of the individuals who participate in NJHAP are faced with a myriad of barriers, many of which involve social stigmas and systems that work against them,” adds Mijal.

Real-World Impact: Ģ����Ƶ students see the direct result of their work as these devices are distributed to those in need. Simas says: “You talk to some of these patients or their families and you build connections with them. This year, the New Jersey Speech-Language and Hearing Association helped us fundraise for hearing aid supplies and made decorative bags for our patients so that we can dispense with their hearing aids with cleaning cloths, hearing aid brushes, battery cases and other tools to keep their hearing aids in the best shape. Being part of these two communities and seeing the combined impact is so heartwarming.”

Are you ready to make an impact?

Apply to the only Doctor of Audiology program in New Jersey and turn newfound clinical excellence into community action.

“It all blacked out. All I heard was glass shattering and people screaming,” she recalls. “My mom gathered us in one room as far from glass as possible because we thought we were getting bombed.”

While Atieh�� and her family survived the 3.3 magnitude seismic event, the blast was the “last straw” for a family living through a growing economic crisis and escalating threats of violence. For Atieh, the journey from that blast in Beirut to the Commencement stage at Ģ����Ƶ is a tale of profound resilience and a search for a “home” that feels safe.

The persistence to finish

The transition to the United States wasn’t immediate or easy. Even after her family received immigration approval – thanks to a process started by her grandfather, a U.S. citizen since 2004 – Atieh struggled with the move. In what she calls “denial” about what was happening in her home country, she insisted on returning to Lebanon to live with her grandmother so she could complete her first degree in sports science. “I was very persistent. I really wanted to finish what I started there.”

While her family watched her first graduation��from New Jersey via a YouTube stream, Atieh was already looking toward the next chapter. She moved to the U.S. permanently just one day after her ceremony in July, carrying with her a desire to help others but unsure of how to navigate the American educational system.

“Coming to the USA and choosing Ģ����Ƶ as my school was just life changing. I’m happy to be here. Sometimes, I can’t believe it’s real.” ~ Tia Atieh ’26

A sign in University Hall

Atieh describes her early days at Ģ����Ƶ as navigating a “maze.” She was overwhelmed and hesitant to have her international credits evaluated, fearing her past hard work wouldn’t translate. She found the Physical Education curriculum to be quite different from her studies. However, a chance encounter in University Hall changed everything.

While waiting to speak with an advisor, she noticed the nameplate for the assistant dean for Student Success at the College for Community Health (CCHL): Hanan Atiyat. Seeing a variation of her own surname on the door felt like a cosmic green light. “I was like, ‘Okay, it’s meant for us to be here,’” Atieh says.

After some discussion, Atiyat learned that Atieh had loved tutoring children with learning disabilities in Lebanon.

Atiyat suggested Atieh review the Family Science and Human Development major. It proved to be the perfect bridge between her previous background and her goals. “This is all I ever wanted,” she recalls thinking. She also discovered social work and felt “this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Atiyat assured Atieh that she and other colleagues would help her reach the finish line as quickly as possible. She completed it in three semesters.

“Once Tia found a home in Family Science and Human Development, she transformed disruption into renewed purpose,” Atiyat says. “Tia is a true inspiration. I have no doubt she will continue to make a meaningful impact as both a Ģ����Ƶ alumna and a compassionate global citizen.”

Helping the “Future Change Agents”

Atieh’s passion earned her a spot as an inaugural CCHL Ambassador, where she shares her experience with prospective students. Her work didn’t go unnoticed; she was recently named one of the University’s Outstanding Student Employee award winners, selected from over 100 nominees across the campus.

As part of her role, she gives tours of CCHL and speaks highly about her major: “I always tell prospective students, ‘Imagine how welcoming, empathetic and understanding they’re going to be when they’re talking to you, a future change agent.”

A new horizon

Today, Atieh finds peace in the nature of New Jersey – running trails, kayaking and fishing. She recently completed her first half-marathon, a physical manifestation of her endurance.

As she prepares to enter Ģ����Ƶ’s Master of Social Work program this fall, Atieh is no longer in denial. She is a survivor who has found her voice, nature and immense gratitude.

“I never imagined getting out of those dark places in my head and overcoming all of this,” she says. “I feel more grateful. I’m building a better life for my family and my future family and I’m going to try to help my family back home as much as I can.”

On Monday, Atieh’s family won’t have to watch her graduate on a screen as she receives her BA in Family Science and Human Development. They will be in the stands, cheering for the eldest daughter who crossed an ocean – and survived a blast – to find her way home.

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

Cameron has danced around the world, but never in a venue as large as Prudential Center in Newark, where 4,251 students will receive their diplomas over two ceremonies.

“I’m not going to be able to have a dress rehearsal, so I’m trying to put myself in a place of calm,” Cameron says.

For him, though, this moment is as much about what comes next as what happens on stage. Drawing on those years as a performer, his MFA work at Ģ����Ƶ has focused on how that experience can translate into teaching – using everyday gestures to make dance more accessible and to expand what “counts” as dance.

Expanding what counts as dance

Much of his graduate research has explored everyday actions as choreographic material, starting with familiar movement and building layered performance out of it.��

“I’ve spent much of my life hearing people say they can’t dance, that they have two left feet, or that dance is only for the trained,” he says. “As an artist, I’ve become increasingly committed to challenging those beliefs and to expanding how dance is understood, created and experienced.”

His culminating project, Again, But Different, built an entire performance from familiar movement. Dance Professor Elizabeth McPherson, MFA Dance coordinator, says Cameron “approached every single assignment with insight and depth of thinking, often bringing in personal examples from his own teaching practice.” His thesis, she notes, used everyday gestures – often in humorous ways – “to show just how meaningful they can be when structured for performance.”

From stage to classroom

For Cameron, turning ordinary actions into choreography is another way to invite people in, and Ģ����Ƶ’s low‑residency MFA in Dance gave him the structure to pursue that work. The two‑year program features asynchronous online study and summers spent inside the Ģ����Ƶ dance studios.��

“We were sweating and moving and doing all the creative practices that we could physically,” mixed with academics in dance technology and media, anatomy and movement analysis.

Ģ����Ƶ also let him step into the role he’d been working toward by giving him classroom experience teaching Dance Appreciation to undergraduates.��

I’m in such a happy place now. I’ve found that, at an older age, I can still be on stage, but that’s not my main focus. My main focus is to be an educator, to enjoy the benefits of being a dance professor.”

From Nutcracker kid to Commencement speaker

The roots of that commitment go back to his childhood in Lynn, Massachusetts. His parents, Paul and Claire Brewer, got him into lessons after he began dancing around the house, mimicking The Nutcracker’s Rat King. “My parents worked hard and made sacrifices so I could have opportunities to dance. My dad even sanded the studio floors at my dance school and took on extra work to help make my training possible,” he says.

“When I say I’d missed my moment, I tried one year of college at SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance right out of high school,” Cameron says. “Fourteen thousand dollars for out‑of‑state tuition was just too much for my family. I also wasn’t very focused. I just wanted to dance professionally.”

At 20, he left for Florida to take a job at Busch Gardens in Tampa. “I ended up staying with that company for almost 12 years, working on cruise ships, dancing around the world, and being a production corporate dancer,” he says.

From performer to pedagogue

After moving back to Boston, teaching was always in the back of his mind, but he refused to do it halfway. “I knew that when I was going to teach, I wanted to do it correctly, and I knew I needed an education to do that,” he says. “That’s not hyperbole.”

That chance came when his husband, Kell Cameron, a business school professor, got a job at the University of South Florida and Jason enrolled at Hillsborough College, a nearby community college, giving him affordable access to general education classes and dance coursework.��

“Once I got this academic bug, I couldn’t stop,” he says. He transferred to the University of Tampa on scholarship, drawn to its focus on pedagogy. From there, his sights turned north.

“Ģ����Ƶ was what I’d had my mind set on for quite a while,” he says. “Their reputation in our little dance world is phenomenal.”

When he thinks about how far he’s come, his mind goes back to those early living‑room Nutcracker performances before he ever set foot in a studio. From there to world dance tours and now earning a Master of Fine Arts to become a teacher, Cameron says, “Dance is just a part of my being.”

“I’m just not kicking my face and doing triple pirouettes and all that kind of jazz much on stage anymore.”

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

Born in Yangon, Myanmar, Zan grew up speaking Burmese and learned English at a local monastic school, becoming proficient enough that he later became a volunteer English teacher at the school. He also worked in translation at a local broadcasting company translating English movies for Burmese viewers.

Then in 2008, in the wake of the catastrophic Cyclone Nargis that devastated Myanmar and the subsequent influx of foreign aid and involvement, new opportunities in the civil society sector opened up and he joined an NGO that worked in education.

“I worked in education support for local marginalized communities and I joined another NGO working at the Thailand-Myanmar border helping refugee schools build their curriculum and train their teachers,” Zan, 37, says.

A decade of working in translation, interpretation and teacher training made him realize that he was not only interested in languages, but he had a passion for helping other people learn.

Finding the right academic fit at Ģ����Ƶ

Looking to further his own education, Zan applied for and received a Lincoln Scholarship to study in the U.S. “Much like the Fulbright, this program offers a premier track for Myanmar scholars to pursue international education in the United States,” he explains. Out of three possible college options, he chose to come to Ģ����Ƶ to study Applied Linguistics.

“I found that what Ģ����Ƶ provided was an exact academic fit with my interests,” he says. “I thought the subjects and electives provided here were directly addressing what I wanted to do with my academic path ahead.”

He found the coursework challenging but also stimulating and developed a particular interest in corpus linguistics.

According to Zan, “Corpus linguistics is studying language as it is used in the wild. It’s looking at language at a whole new level of magnitude. People would look at language but only at a specific section of that language, but corpus linguistics brings in the entirety of the whole language.”

Persevering through uncertainty

Although he excelled in his classes, Zan’s academic path through graduate school was anything but straightforward.

“At several points in the past two years, the progressing violence following the military coup back home, the largest earthquake in my country’s history, and the ripple effects of an eventful administration change in the U.S. have had profound effects on my friends and communities,” he says. “It was somehow uneasy to be all safe and comfortable here while my folks struggled there.”

In addition to the emotional weight of watching his communities and loved ones endure hardship from afar, funding for Zan’s scholarship was cut in his second semester, leaving him uncertain if he could remain at Ģ����Ƶ for the second year of the program.

That uncertainty could have ended his journey – but it didn’t.

With the support of the University, particularly the Office of Global Engagement and faculty and staff of the Linguistics program – especially Graduate Program Coordinator Professor Larissa Goulart – Zan was able to continue in the program with a Graduate Assistantship, which helped cover his tuition and fees. He expressed his immense appreciation for all the work done and arrangements made on his behalf so that he could complete his degree.

“I must have been such an unusual case, giving both staff and faculty a considerable administrative challenge,” Zan says. “And for that exact reason, me completing the degree and graduating is an embodiment of the University’s commitment to higher education – for all of its students.”

Through the assistantship, Zan has been working as a research assistant in the Linguistics department’s . In addition to excelling in research and teaching, he conducted an original, empirical study on Myanmar’s high school English textbooks, focusing on their vocabulary and phraseological coverage and strength.

Looking ahead

Zan has applied to work at an organization in New York that helps refugee populations get settled, and beyond that, he plans to pursue a PhD in Applied Linguistics with a focus on corpus linguistics.

All the while, he is still engaging with his organizations in Myanmar and providing online trainings and classes for underserved community schools there. His long-term goal remains clear: to elevate the quality of language education in Myanmar, especially in the communities that need it most.

But for now, he is looking forward to Commencement and celebrating his achievements with fellow Red Hawks.

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

Ready to start your Ģ����Ƶ journey?

Prospective students: Learn more about Ģ����Ƶ’s Linguistics program or apply to Ģ����Ƶ.

Journalists: Contact Ģ����Ƶ’s Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview.

Crawford’s path to earning a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Humanities and a minor in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, while working full time and caring for her family has been long and challenging but ultimately, worth it.

The Bayonne, New Jersey, native says, “The most rewarding and meaningful part of reaching Commencement has been the feeling of finally standing in a moment I once wasn’t sure I would get to.”

A nontraditional path back to the classroom

At just 17 years old, Crawford stepped into independence without a safety net, forced to rely on work simply to survive. “I started college right out of high school, but after my first year I had to step away because I simply couldn’t afford to continue,” she recalls. “At that point, I shifted my focus to working full time and figuring out how to support myself.”

She supported herself working in a variety of jobs, including a long period in the automotive industry working in sales, finance and customer service, and in her current full-time job: property management.

Despite having to work to pay the bills, Crawford, 36, never lost her drive and determination to reach her lifelong goal of becoming a lawyer. Knowing she needed a degree to reach that goal, she found her way back to school though a community college and in 2013, earned an associate degree.

“Even after that, my education didn’t follow a straight path,” she says. “I would take classes when I could, but most of the time I had to prioritize work and survival. There were long stretches where school had to wait because life didn’t leave much room for anything else.”

And for Crawford, “life” is pretty full. In addition to her full-time work and studies, she is a wife and mother of a 3-year-old son, a part-time bartender and actively involved in the local community through her hometown’s Elks Lodge, currently serving as the Esteemed Loyal Knight and co-chairing the drug awareness and peer leadership committees.

Turning commitment into action

Then last summer, after years of her education taking a back seat to her work and responsibilities, “Something shifted for me,” Crawford says. “I made the decision that I was going to finish my bachelor’s no matter what it took.”

She learned of Ģ����Ƶ‘s BA in Liberal Studies program and met with Academic Advisor Alicia Tucker to discuss her options.

“I had my initial meeting with Alicia and I told her that I was trying to do this quick. I wanted to do this in one year – two semesters,” Crawford recalls. “She was like, ‘This is going to be rough, but you know what, we’re going to get it done.’”

Learning from Tucker about , which allows students to earn credits by taking examinations instead of classes, Crawford took three CLEP exams to earn the credits. Tucker also helped build Crawford’s schedule – 18 credits one semester and 19 credits the following semester – a full course load.

“I’m very grateful to have met Alicia because she was really the final piece of the puzzle for me,” Crawford says, “because before I chose to go to Ģ����Ƶ, I was already enrolled at another college.”

The fact that the BA in Liberal Studies is a fully online program was also a big selling point for Crawford. “It worked out so well for me because I’m so busy – I’m working full time, I work part time, I’m a mom, I volunteer,” she says. “I just have so much going on, but it fit my schedule perfectly – so I’m very lucky for that.”

Tucker understands this. “As an academic advisor, I see how essential flexibility is for nontraditional students balancing work, family and life,” Tucker says. “The BA in Liberal Studies allows them to continue their education without putting everything else on hold.”

The power of a support system

In spite of the workload during her year at Ģ����Ƶ, Crawford made the dean’s list and was inducted into two honor societies: for transfer students and for first-generation college graduates.

She credits much of her success to the support system around her. In addition to advising and academic support from the University, Crawford’s family and friends were a constant source of support.

“My husband stood beside me through long days and even longer nights, always encouraging me and reminding me why I started,” Crawford says, “and my best friends showed up in the ways that mattered most and made sure I never lost sight of myself along the way.”

Her greatest motivation, she says, has been her son. “I want him to grow up knowing that nothing is impossible, that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Becoming his mom didn’t take me away from my dreams, it pushed me to chase them even harder.”

Next stop: law school

After graduation, Crawford isn’t planning to slow down. While continuing to build her career in property management and remaining committed to her role at home, she plans to take the LSAT this summer and apply to law school this fall for a fall 2027 start.

Thinking back over the past year, Crawford believes her journey reflects resilience, determination and the reality of pursuing an education while also building a life and supporting a family.

“I hope it can also show others that success doesn’t always follow a traditional timeline,” she says, “but consistency and hard work still lead to meaningful outcomes.”

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

Ready to start your Ģ����Ƶ journey?

Prospective students: Learn more about Ģ����Ƶ’s BA in Liberal Studies program or apply to Ģ����Ƶ.

Journalists: Contact Ģ����Ƶ’s Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview.

Afriyie-Addo’s walk across the stage at 2026 Commencement next week makes him the first graduate of the Cali Pathways project, which launched in 2021 and helps talented young musicians access the guidance, training and resources they need to pursue music in college and beyond.

��“I really appreciate the Pathways program because I wouldn’t be in college without that entry into Ģ����Ƶ,” he says.

He studied music for two years before switching his major to business and sees parallels between the two.����

“There are similarities between music and business, particularly in terms of community, leadership and freedom,” he says. “The best music comes from people sharing a common emotion and playing the music together – and the best businesses come from people sharing a common goal together.”

A late start and a sharp shift

Afriyie-Addo’s path to the stage was anything but traditional. While many musicians begin their training in early childhood, Afriyie-Addo didn’t discover his passion for music until his junior year of high school during the COVID-19 pandemic. While doing some spring cleaning, his mother pulled a keyboard from the closet and Afriyie-Addo decided to teach himself to play by ear.

To support his newfound passion and talent, his mother found him a piano teacher. Afriyie-Addo recalls hearing a fellow student play what he mistakenly thought was an original piece but turned out to be one of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in E flat major.

“I was astonished. It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard,” he says. That’s the moment he was hooked on classical piano and decided, “wow, I want to sound like that.” He practiced at every opportunity.

Inspired by his choir and piano teachers and bolstered by a scholarship, he began a rapid ascent into the world of performance and composition.

During his time at the Cali School, he also discovered and fell in love with jazz and studied under Adjunct Instructor David DeMotta, who describes Afriyie-Addo as “an inspired student who consistently pushed himself to master the art of improvisation.”

“It was wonderful to watch him develop from his first introduction to jazz piano into a self-motivated and serious student of the art form,” DeMotta says. “Isaac has the type of deeply curious and professionalized approach to learning and achievement that will allow him to find continued success within and beyond jazz piano.”

The composition of commerce

Even after switching majors, Afriyie-Addo stayed involved with the Cali School. His leadership skills were put to the test when he took charge of organizing – and performing in, of course – the Hues Concert at the Cali School’s Leshowitz Recital Hall earlier this year. Even when faced with a snowstorm delay, Afriyie-Addo utilized his networking and marketing acumen to ensure the event was a success, showcasing the business skills he honed in the classroom.

He also wrote original compositions for dancers and others. That’s when he fell in love with and pivoted to jazz. “Jazz is a lot like composition in real time, you’re composing in the moment, and that felt thrilling.” The bigger pivot, however, came when he switched his focus to business partly because he had an interest and could see the commonalities in both, as well as “the influence of my family wanting the best for me financially,” he says.��

The Hues Concert experience fueled an interest in event coordinating; he hopes to continue to fuse his business and music acumen. “I want to create a venue or business that allows artists to be able to perform and put themselves out there,” he says.

A future in fusion

While school kept him busy, he also found time for other interests, volunteering at a hospital and shadowing an executive at a retail store to learn data analytics.

Wherever Afriyie-Addo ends up when he enters the professional world, he knows music will remain a lifelong passion.

“I can’t see myself without it. I’m someone who has a lot of interests, and I can balance doing multiple things at once. Whether it’s performing, creating or building spaces that allow other people to connect, that’s something that really is something that I strive for. One of the best ways to bring people together and comfort others is through the universal language of music.”

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

Jones will address her classmates at two ceremonies, Monday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12, at Prudential Center in Newark, drawing on an unconventional path to the podium that she now sees as her greatest strength.

“You’re not defined by previous versions of yourself, mistakes you’ve made or your major,” she says. “You can evolve so much by putting yourself in unfamiliar and different spaces.”

Leading together

Jones’ impact is deeply connected to the work of the Student Government Association’s executive team. Together, they oversaw the SGA scholarship fund, awarding scholarships totaling $31,500 this spring semester alone, including new funding for students completing unpaid internships.��

They also partnered with the Red Hawk Pantry to address food insecurity through food drives, meal vouchers and awareness campaigns. The team also helped cultivate future leaders by moderating a Student Leadership Conference for incoming high school students.

Jones will graduate with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Economics and continue at Ģ����Ƶ through the University’s 4+1 program to earn a master’s degree in Cybersecurity, with long‑term plans to pursue a career in patent law.

Jones will share the Commencement stage with her fellow executive board members:

• Carmela Beitler, a Psychology major with a Social Work minor, helped shape SGA’s scholarship review process and says her leadership experience taught her “how to be a resource for students, when to guide them and how to recognize what they’re capable of.” After graduation, Beitler plans to pursue her Master of Social Work at Rutgers University and one day specialize in school social work.
• Danny Gonzalez, a Theatre Studies major, co‑led initiatives like Know Your Rights, an immigration‑resource information board. Gonzalez will earn his degree in August and will continue at Ģ����Ƶ as part of the 4+1 program, which allows students to earn both a BA and an MA in just five years.
• Edlyn Eugene, a Business Administration major concentrating in Marketing, led SGA’s outreach and social media strategy – boosting student engagement and election turnout and helping plan Senior Sendoff and other senior‑week events.

As Jones reflects on remarks she’ll give at Commencement, she keeps returning to the guidance that helped her grow into her role.

Grace through all seasons

Jones credits her mentor, Dean of Students Margaree Coleman-Carter, with grounding her throughout her journey. “I knew I wanted to do more, but I didn’t have that representation growing up and didn’t feel like I had the space to speak,” Jones says.

“Dean Carter told me, ‘Have grace through all seasons in your life,’” she adds. “That stayed with me – knowing it’s going to be OK, even when it doesn’t feel like it.”

Outside of SGA, Jones taught yoga at the Student Recreation Center. “Even though Computer Science might not correlate with being in student government, those core values – discipline and structure – shaped me as a leader,” she explains. “Teaching yoga taught me how to slow down, be soft and think through every decision that I make.”

“Now I feel confident stepping into rooms and finding my voice.”

This story is part of a series celebrating Ģ����Ƶ’s graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.