Black Alumni Honor Those Who Inspire

Casey Carpenter, J80, CEO and Founder of Speak & Own It Communications (and a recent Tufts Alumni presenter) chose to honor her parents, Dr. Edward F. Carpenter and Dr. Ann M. Carpenter. In 1967, they founded the Harlem Preparatory School in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Established as part of the era’s alternative school movement, the school (also known as Harlem Prep) "sought to provide high school ‘dropouts’ a second chance at completing their education and pursue a college degree,” notes Carpenter. During its seven-year tenure, Harlem Prep graduated almost 800 students—a legacy of her parents’ impact that Carpenter honored with her contribution.

Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University Christina Greer, J00, Ph.D., chose to honor her great-grandfather, William Dixon Greer. Born in 1866 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Greer obtained a degree in theology from Roger Williams University in 1885 and was a committed educator throughout his life. In the words of his great-granddaughter, William Dixon Greer’s footsteps are “footsteps I follow in today and am so grateful for my Tufts education.” (Christina Greer has been featured previously on the university’s podcast Tell Me More, as part of a resharing of the university’s 2019 event in honor of Dr. King.)

Dr. Donald Wilson, M62, H08, paid tribute to his parents and, in particular, his father: “The people I honor are my dad, Rivers Wilson, and my mom, Licine Wilson. Born in South Carolina, Dad fled the oppression of our nation’s post-Civil War time to move to Massachusetts. He received no formal education beyond the third grade. However, like so many of his hard-working colleagues... he was able through grit and integrity to raise and support a family in a manner that allowed me to attend Harvard College and Tufts Medical School. He asked for and received no special recognition but, similar to his counterparts, he set an example that served to stimulate Black achievement, growth, and integrity. He asked nothing of me except that I succeed and take care of my family. I have done so. And I honor him every day of my life.” 

Dr. Wilson is himself recognized at the University of Maryland School of Medicine by the Donald E. Wilson, Dean Emeritus Scholarship, which honors him as the first African American dean at the university and the nation’s first dean of any non-minority medical school. Dr. Wilson is the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and executive director of the Association for Academic Minority Physicians.

Vivian Stephens-Hicks, MG06, program manager for the master’s in biomedical sciences at Tufts University School of Medicine, honored her father, Robert L. Stephens. Stephens-Hicks recalls her father’s having brought their family to Boston in 1969 from Georgia in search of a better life and education for his children. Working as a custodian at a Roxbury, Mass., public school (now the Dearborn STEM Academy), Stephens “went to work each day with joy and pride as he worked hard to provide for his wife and three children,” his daughter recalls. Her father’s determination that his children receive a better education than his own inspired Stephens-Hicks to see “attending college… as not just a dream but a reality,” despite the odds their family faced. Her father's efforts ultimately ensured better educational opportunities not only for Stephens-Hicks and her siblings but for their children as well. After her father died in 2019, their family memorialized him with a scholarship for graduates of the Dearborn STEM Academy, extending to students at the school where Stephens’ once worked his legacy of encouraging education.