Honoring 2026 Graduates and Student Leader Award Recipients
On Friday, May 8, 2026, the Howard University School of Social Work proudly celebrated the Summer 2025, Winter 2025, and Spring 2026 graduating classes during its Awards and Recognition Ceremony, honoring students for their academic achievement and leadership in their Master’s and Doctoral studies in the field of social work. This year, HUSSW celebrated an impressive graduating class of 180 Master of Social Work (MSW) students and 6 Ph.D. graduates.
Throughout their time at the Howard University School of Social Work, students were prepared to confront society’s most pressing challenges with integrity and the enduring strength of the Black Perspective. Graduates persevered through rigorous coursework, transformative agency-based learning experiences, personal sacrifices, and moments requiring courage and determination. Through it all, they continued to answer the call to service by advocating for children and families, promoting mental health and wellness, advancing equity, empowering vulnerable populations, and becoming voices for change. As graduates of Howard University, they now join a distinguished legacy of social work professionals, scholars, professors, policymakers, clinicians, researchers, and community leaders whose work will transform lives on a national and global scale.
The Howard University School of Social Work extends sincere appreciation to our leadership, Dean Sheara Jennings and Associate Dean Altaf Husain, for their vision and commitment to advancing social work education. We also recognize and thank the faculty and staff for their dedication and support of students throughout their academic journey.
Special recognition is also extended to distinguished guests in the ceremony:
• Inerim Wayne A. I. Frederick and Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dawn Williams for delivering welcome remarks
• Keynote Speaker A.D. Rachel Pierre, and
• Soloist Jamila Woods for her rendition of Rise Up
As a time-honored tradition, the Howard University School of Social Work proudly recognized and celebrated alumni and students whose academic excellence, scholarship, leadership and commitment to service exemplify the mission and values of the social work profession. The 2026 Awards and Recognition Ceremony highlighted graduates who have distinguished themselves through exceptional achievement in the classroom and beyond:
Dr. Inabel Burns Lindsay Social Work Education Leadership Award
Janice Berry Edwards, MSW, PhD, ACSW, LICSW, LCSW-C, BCD
The 2026 Eva M. Stewart Agency-Based Education Exemplar Award
Jessica Bryant — Excellence in Agency-Based Community, Administration, and Policy Practice
Lamyra Rayner-McGee — Excellence in Agency-Based Community, Administration, and Policy Practice
Matthew Jarrod Arreola — Excellence in Agency-Based Direct Practice
Kevia Walker Humphries — Excellence in Agency-Based Direct Practice
Student Leadership & Service Award
Khalia Grant
Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Award
Maresa Roach
The Founder’s Fellow in Graduate Social Work Education
Research: "Pathways to Power: Advancing Student Readiness for Higher Education and Workforce Entry"
Aubrey H. Scott, III
PROJECT PRESS Fellows:
Matan Karasov
Carlton Mays
Sharika Hestor-Scott
Aubrey H. Scott, III
The Howard University School of Social Work also proudly celebrates our six PhD graduates. This milestone represents an extraordinary achievement and reflects
years of dedication and perseverance in their commitment to advance research and scholarship in social work practice. We are honored to recognize each graduate, their scholarship, and the faculty who supported their doctoral journey.
Dr. Bezil L. Taylor
Dissertation: What Do We Do When the System Is the Barrier? Reimagining Higher Education Through the Lens of Housing Equity and Access
Advisor: Dr. Sandra Edmonds Crewe
Dr. Whittni L. Holland
Dissertation: Rooted in Resistance, Sustained by Community: Help Seeking Among Black Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Maryland
Advisor: Dr. Tracy R. Whitaker
Dr. Jalissa R. Worthy
Dissertation: “Seeing Each Other Through”: Healing Pathways to Help Seeking and Extending Social Capital Theory through a Black Epistemology of Connection
Advisor: Dr. Sandra Edmonds Crewe
Dr. Alyaa Al Maadeed
Dissertation: The Effect of Organizational Culture on Turnover Intention and Counterproductive Work Behavior among Social Service Employees in the State of Qatar
Advisor: Dr. Soleman Abu-Bader
Dr. Devyn E. Brown
Dissertation: Healing Between the Lines of Post-Incarceration and Mental Health: A Quantitative Evaluation of Black Male Reentry
Advisor: Dr. Soleman Abu-Bader
Dr. Melanece Wesley
Dissertation: Culturally Responsive AI: Centering Afro-Latino/a/e/x Mental Health Experiences for Equitable AI Design & Development
Advisor: Dr. Tracy R. Whitaker
To all graduates, your degree signifies both a responsibility and an opportunity to create meaningful impact in the world through your advocacy, service, scholarship, and leadership.
On behalf of the faculty and staff of the Howard University School of Social Work, congratulations to this year’s graduating classes (MSW and Ph.D.) and all special award recipients. Your commitment to uplifting humanity reflects the very best of Howard University and the social work profession. You are now Howard Prepared and fully equipped to be the change this world requires and needs to see progress.
Photography courtesy of Be My Guest Photography LLC