CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
Prior to applying, Edmonds said he learned that others in his circle were EPHD alumni, including a couple of fraternity brothers in Cohort 17. “The thing that stood out to me is the cohort model and the support that was available. As you look across the landscape of HBCU leadership, currently a significant amount of leadership has ties to JSU.” Kappa Alpha Psi and Cohort 18 member Donald W. Comer is one of the few program participants not currently employed in higher education. His role as vice president of Decision Science and Analytics at FedEx in Memphis, Tenn., has offered opportunities to see how corporations and universities can collaborate meaningfully. He views the EPHD program as a pathway to sustaining the legacy and future of HBCUs, including the two that he serves as a board member – Stillman and LeMoyne-Owen colleges. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the applicability of the program’s content in my corporate position,” said Comer. “The EPHD program is all about doing research. Its broad-based applicability goes beyond the original
intended purpose of mentoring college presidents or successful administrators in higher ed. It’s applicable in many other areas because of the quality of the content and the teaching. It’s also the mix of individuals who have personal experiences that punctuate what is being discussed in the classroom.” Amanda Dear-Jones of Clarksdale, Miss., is another member of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Cohort 19. The self-described social advocate is CEO and president of Family Youth Opportunities Division, Inc. The EPHD will be her fourth JSU degree.
and holds one another accountable. “When it’s time to do big things, there’s no other way but the AKA way. We are leaders in education.” Executive Director Brown predicts that Jackson State’s EPHD program will continue to thrive for another 20 years and beyond because it prepares those who want a disciplined understanding of higher education, and particularly African Americans aspiring for top leadership positions. “Remember the original mission of HBCUs,” advised Brown. “To provide higher education for African Americans who would not have had an opportunity to be admitted at other institutions at the graduate, master’s or Ph.D. levels. Access to other institutions may have changed, but the nurturing environment found in HBCU environments continues to set us apart for students to connect, achieve and thrive.” For more information about the Executive Ph.D. Program at Jackson State University, visit www.JSUMS.edu/ EPHD.
“This degree will help me be more credible because our focus is understanding marginalized
communities in an urban environment,” said Dear-Jones. “The program will help me be an independent thinker, and it will also give me creative avenues to be able to go into rooms that I’m not in yet, to be able to help make decisions, to transform not only life for myself, but those that come behind me.” She described the union with her sorority sisters as a “divine intervention” because the group works well together
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