Madiba Dennie poses with her AAS certificate and her family.

The Center for African American Studies at Princeton University is pleased to announce that it has graduated 39 certificate students in the Class of 2012. This marks a 22% increase in the number of graduating certificate students when compared with the two previous years. The center graduated 32 certificate students in both 2010 and 2011. This figure falls just two students shy of its largest class of certificate students (Class of 2009), which boasted 41 certificate students.

“We are thrilled about the number of students concentrating in African American Studies,” said Professor Eddie Glaude, chair of the Center for African American Studies. “For us, it is important to understand that African American Studies and its central questions and concerns are at the center of a liberal arts education. So we are delighted that Princeton University students are finding their intellectual feet in the Center.” 

The 39 students came from 11 different “home” departments on campus. The departments and their associated students include: ten students from the Department of Sociology; six students from the Department of History; five students from the Department of Politics; four students from the Department of Anthropology; three students each from the Departments of English, Religion, and the Woodrow Wilson School; two students from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; and one student each from the Departments of Art and Archeology, Economics, and Spanish and Portuguese. The 39 certificate students in the Class of 2012 are:

Professor Eddie Glaude, chair of the Center of African American Studies, shows seniors part of their graduation gifts from the center: a hooded sweatshirt (in honor of the Trayvon Martin incident) with a quote by Professor Cornel West.

Angel Araiza, Department of Sociology

Julia Blount, Department of History

Alexandria Brown, Department of Sociology

Cameron Browne, Department of Sociology

Kezmen Clifton, Department of Sociology

Sophia M. D’Angelo, Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Madiba Dennie, Department of Politics

Jonathan Ford Jr., Department of Anthropology

Sarah Gerth, Department of Art and Archaeology

Kristin Grannum, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Angela Groves, Woodrow Wilson School

Maraiya Hakeem, Department of Sociology

Chloe Haimson, Department of Sociology

Kelly Hall, Department of Sociology

Cara Hampton, Department of Religion

Georgia Himmelstein, Woodrow Wilson School

Kulani Jalata, Department of Anthroplogy

Zacch Yemi Olorunnipa ’12 receives his African American Studies certificate from Professor Tera Hunter at CAAS’ Class Day Celebration on June 4, 2012.

Marlise Jean-Pierre, Department of English

Jocelyn Johnson, Department of Anthropology

August Jones-Loiacono, Department of Politics

Brandon Joseph, Department of History

Brittany Kelleher, Department of History*

Genay Kirkpatrick, Department of English

Ariel Lawrence, Department of Religion

Cara Liuzzi, Department of English

Mikhail Melaku, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ann Niehaus, Woodrow Wilson School

Julie-Irene Nkodo, Department of History

Zacch Yemi Olorunnipa, Department of Sociology

Roland Persaud, Department of Sociology

Tevia Pollard, Department of Politics

Marquis James Pullen, Department of Politics

Alexandria Wise, one of the winners of the Ruth Simmons Thesis Prize, with her parents and Professor Eddie Glaude.

Rosemary Raymond-Sidel, Department of Economics

Lucy Reeder, Department of History

Maya Ange’le Reid, Department of Sociology

Chisom Ude, Department of Politics

Gabrielle Wilkerson-Melnick, Department of Anthropology

Narissa Williams, Department of Religion

Alexandra Wise, Department of History*

In order to receive a certificate in African American Studies, students were required to take AAS 201: Introduction to the Study of African American Cultural Practices, plus five additional courses, for a total of six courses. The center also suggests that race figure centrally in the student's senior thesis (students majoring in Math, Engineering, and the sciences do not have a thesis requirement for the certificate).

The 39 certificate students and their families were honored in the Center’s Class Day Celebration hosted at Stanhope Hall on June 4, 2012.

*Ruth J. Simmons Thesis Prize Winners