Roanoke College confers degrees upon 436 graduates at the 2023 Commencement.
The Class of 2023 celebrated the culmination of its Roanoke College years on Saturday, May 6 with a Commencement ceremony that featured a new president, and seven exceptional valedictorians which broke a record with seven students earning valedictorian honors surpassing last year’s previous record with five valedictorians.
The 2023 valedictorians were: Kasey Truman Draper, a business administration major from Roanoke; Luke Herbert Elder, a physics and computer science major from Richmond, VA; Emma Evangelina Maras, a literary studies major from State College, PA; Ashtyn Blair Porter, an international relations and creative writing major from Midlothian, VA; Brayley Anice Whitcomb, a mathematics major from Salem, VA; Eli Flynn Wooliever, a physics and biochemistry major from Worcester, VT; Rachel Victoria Yinger, a biology and creative writing major from Dover, PA, and immensely talented honorary degree recipient, American writer Nikki Giovanni.
Roanoke College gained a member at this year’s commencement when Yolande “Nikki” Giovanni joins its ranks as the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
According to the college, Giovanni is a “prolific poet and author who has received a long list of awards and other accolades over a writing career that has spanned over five decades! She is also a lifelong teacher, recently retiring from Virginia Tech after 35 years of service, and a force for social and racial justice. She will read one of her poems as part of Roanoke’s Commencement ceremony on May 6.”
Giovanni earned a history degree at Fisk University, a historically Black college in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the college. Soon after publishing her first volume of poetry in 1968, she received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Harlem Arts Council. She also received a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1969 and is known as an early member of the Black Arts Movement.
“The role of the poet in society is, to tell the truth,” Giovanni said in an interview with Virginia Public Radio. “I’ve not been afraid to say it.”
Giovanni is the author of more than two dozen volumes of poetry, essays, and edited anthologies, 11 illustrated children’s books, and 10 albums or recordings. Her most recent children’s book, “A Library,” is about her experience going to the library when she was growing up, according to the college.
Giovanni has been presented with an American Book Award, Caldecott Award, Carl Sandburg Literary Award, Langston Hughes Award, and Gwendolyn Brooks Award, as well a Grammy Award nomination for best spoken-word album. She has also been honored for her contributions to American culture as a voice for the Black and Appalachian experience, according to a college biography. That recognition includes seven NAACP Image Awards; the Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award; Woman of the Year Awards for Ebony, Ladies Home Journal, and Mademoiselle magazines; the Appalachian Medallion Award; the John Henry “Pop” Lloyd Humanitarian Award; the Legends and Legacies Award, and a United States Senate Certificate of Commendation!
Giovanni retired from Virginia Tech last year as a University Distinguished Professor Emerita. Prior to joining Virginia Tech’s English Department, she taught at several other universities, including Livingston College of Rutgers University, Queens College, and Ohio State University.
“At Roanoke College, we are deeply committed to helping students prepare for lives of purpose, build meaningful careers, and meet the world’s greatest needs. Nikki Giovanni is a remarkable example of all three things,” said President Frank Shushok. “As a poet, teacher, and cultural icon, she bravely calls it as she sees it, challenging us to be better versions of ourselves-both as individuals and communities. Her poetry is a master class on what love looks like in all its forms-from friendship, quiet moments with nature, debilitating grief, and righteous anger towards injustice.”
