My Story | Dr. Stacey Raina Speller

By Dr. Stacey Raina Speller | Doctoral Alumni

Rooted in Community, Guided by Purpose

Before beginning my doctoral studies at Howard University, I heard the same refrain more than once: “Don’t go to another HBCU. You already did that in undergrad and for your master’s. It’s time for the real world now—get your PhD from a PwI.”

The implication was clear: while my HBCU education had been valuable, it wasn’t enough. For some reason, “real life experience” and credibility were supposed to come only from predominantly white institutions. To me, that was baloney. How could the very people who preached the transformative power of HBCUs now insist my terminal degree required a detour from the very spaces that had shaped me?

From the beginning, I knew Howard’s PhD in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies was the only place for me. For my calling, the research agenda I was committed to building, and my long-term career goals, I needed the doctoral experience to be grounded in the HBCU tradition. Completing all of my degrees at HBCUs wasn’t just preference—it was purpose.

That clarity was strengthened by another part of my HBCU undergraduate journey: pledging Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc (DST). The journey to DST was not easy—just as the journey to the PhD was not easy. Three letters, but a whole lot of work. It demanded long nights, sacrifice, challenges, studying, and perseverance. It required me to confront myself, to grow, and to keep pushing when the process felt overwhelming. And just like earning a PhD, it was a destination that could never be reached alone.

Pledging taught me accountability, resilience, and collective advancement. The social capital gained in Delta wasn’t just about having a network—it was about learning to show up for others, to lean on community, and to recognize that success is never a solo act. I knew those same principles would carry me through the doctoral process.
And I was right.

Graduate school is often described as cut-throat, competitive, and isolating. Too many students are left navigating the process in survival mode. But at Howard, my journey was defined by community and collaboration. That culture was not accidental—it was cultivated by faculty and staff who centered the HBCU ethos of nurturing and by students who understood our success was bound together.

For me, that community had a name: The Live 5. We entered the program together and made a promise—we were going to see each other through. That commitment shaped everything. It looked like late-night writing sessions where we swapped drafts and offered feedback. It looked like holding one another through seasons of grief and loss, when life outside the classroom felt unbearable. And it looked like celebrating professional and personal milestones—conference presentations, job interviews, publications, birthdays, and family achievements—reminding us that joy was just as much a part of this journey as resilience.

The Live 5 wasn’t just a study group. We were a lifeline. Every milestone—comprehensive exams, proposal defenses, dissertation drafts—was achieved together. The finish line was never about one of us; it was always about all of us. That is the beauty of the HBCU graduate experience. It turns what could be a grueling, lonely process into a communal journey of joy, accountability, and liberation.

Howard gave me more than a PhD. It gave me a Blackprint for how higher education should look when community is placed at the center. It showed me that rigorous scholarship and cultural belonging are not opposites—they are complements. It affirmed that the HBCU education is not only “real life experience,” but in fact, the model of how to cultivate scholars who are both excellent and grounded.

And Howard did something else. The vision for HBCUorgullo was first planted at my alma mater, Bethune-Cookman University, when I saw the need to bridge my HBCU community with Latin students. That spark became a movement. But it was at Howard where HBCUorgullo grew legs—where it learned to walk, to run, and to thrive. Surrounded by mentors who nurtured my scholarship and peers who fueled my purpose, Howard gave me the clarity to take HBCUorgullo from an idea into a community-anchored nonprofit framework for change.

So when I reflect on those early conversations—the ones urging me to go elsewhere—I am grateful I trusted my spirit. I am grateful I chose Howard and that Howard chose me. Because what I gained here cannot be replicated: a community that refused to let me fail, mentors who nurtured both my scholarship and my soul, and a cohort whose bond is truly unmatched.

Howard made me the scholar, the practitioner, and the advocate I was called to be. And more than anything, it gave me a deep sense of cultural and ancestral pride that will sustain me for a lifetime.

H-UUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!