After Dillard Graduation, Students Scatter Again

Photo credit: Shawn Chollette "It was important that we finish. We started here and we wanted to finish here," one graduate said. Some 354 seniors were in the class.

By Amber Wilson
Black College Wire

As of May, 32 of the new Dillard University graduates had been accepted to graduate schools, while 57 were going directly into the workplace and an undetermined number planned to enroll in professional schools, according to Dewain Lee, interim assistant dean for the office of career services and education enhancement options.

Rebecca Roussell, a mass communications major with a focus on print journalism and broadcast, was heading to St. Louis to complete a 13-week internship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Marrero, La., native said she would eventually attend graduate school, but not in the near future.

Roussell said she wasn't going to return to Dillard initially but was thankful and happy that she did. "I wasn't feeling the whole hotel thing, but I love it," she said of Dillard's temporary quarters in the Hilton Riverside hotel. "Dillard instills in you that you can do anything you put your mind to," Roussell said.

Gary Butler of Baton Rouge, La., a political science major, said he would attend graduate school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas or Tulane University in New Orleans. He planned to pursue political science, but also explore a subject for which he developed a passion in the summer of his junior year while completing an internship. He said he would work toward a master's in sports administration.

Butler said he was passionate about education, excited to work toward his master's, and eager to be back at Dillard for graduation.

"Over the last six months I realized there's no place like home. I missed Dillard," he said.

Kenneth Hughlon of Kansas City double-majored in political science and African world studies and planned to attend graduate school at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He plans to become a prosecuting attorney.

"We're the first class to graduate post-Katrina," he said. Hughlon said he has learned about responsibility and a work ethic, about quality and about time management during his four years at Dillard. "The past six months have taught me to keep my eye on the prize," he said.

Aislyn Lipford, a mass communications major focusing on public relations, said she was taking a break from school. The Memphis-born senior said, "I don't feel like I'm mentally prepared for graduate school. I want to take some time to prepare for the GRE so that I can do well and receive as many scholarships as I can."

Lipford said she had learned a lot over the past six months and offered this advice to undergraduates: "Take every opportunity you can get. When opportunities arise, take them. Look for opportunities, they won't find you. Remember that you drive your opportunities.

"The class of 2006 has been through so much, both good and bad," Lipford said. Katrina was the icing on the cake. We couldn't let a little floodwater stop us. It was important that we finish. We started here and we wanted to finish here."

Amber Wilson is a sophomore mass communications major at Dillard University.

Posted July 3, 2006