The graduation dust has begun to settle, but there are specific accomplishments that have reached national heights: a group of eight black women who earned their PhDs from the IU School of Education, a unique and phenomenal occurrence. Jada Phelps-Moultrie, Shannon McCullough, Johari Shuck, Nadrea Njoku, Tiffany Kyser, Jasmine Haywood, Demetrees Hutchins, and Juhanna Rogers are all different ages with different backgrounds, but with a common goal driven by education.

Leading up to receiving their degrees, the “Great Eight” joined efforts to support each other academically and emotionally throughout the process. What we have here are non-traditional women, some of them mothers and wives, who have lived with the absence of black women as role models in education or who have personally witnessed the impact marginalization has had on African Americans in education. Their outcome was an important mark in history for the IU School of Education and African Americans obtaining doctorate degrees, since usually there are only a few PhD students that graduate from The School and even fewer minorities in any area of graduate studies, according to interim executive associate dean Robin Hughes.

The journey to this accomplishment was no easy task for any of these women. Juhanna Rogers began her story in 2005 when she first arrived at IUPUI with her then 3-month-old son. Rogers, along with many of the “Great Eight”, saw how underrepresented students of color were faring in higher education and it was her hope to make an impact on this community through her own pursuit of learning. IUPUI became home for her and her son Nile along the way and it will continue to be a special place for the both of them.

While the bond between these ladies didn’t occur right away, the “Great Eight” found each other over the course of the curriculum studies and vowed to remain supportive of one another in an environment that was not always nurturing. However, it is their hope that the sisterhood circle doesn’t end now that they’ve graduated. Nadrea Njoku served as the self-appointed managing individual for the “Great Eight’s” communication and bonding, but she later passed it on to Jasmine Haywood, who will then possibly pass it on to someone else. These women plan to stay connected through this bond they have nurtured and hopefully see this sisterhood persevere and transcend to future students.

These eight women have made national headlines and the path they’ve created will continue to be of importance for them and future African American women to follow. I think it’s safe to say that this is just the beginning of their newfound legacy as the Great Eight.

By: Kathy Lopez, senior, IU Bloomington
IUAA Diversity and Multicultural Programs Student Fellow