Dean's Corner

Spring is in the air!

For the Graduate School, that means commencement is around the corner. April is a busy month for us, but so much of that activity is related to thesis and dissertation defenses, student and faculty research presentations for the university's annual research month, conferences (including the Bouchet conference at Yale where we will induct 10 new graduate students), and ceremonies that celebrate our students' milestones.

I have so many found memories of this time of year—as a graduate student here, as a member of the graduate faculty and as a dissertation advisor, and as a member of the Graduate School committees that do so much of the behind the scenes work to make the Graduate School run smoothly. Those faculty and committees, along with staff, are still hard at work now, doing everything they can to ensure that our students can focus on their research and writing.

This regular column provides me with the wonderful opportunity to remember. Memory carries culture and sustains us. That's why The Sway team wants to share the love of storytelling and memory with all of you through a new column that will complement the "Dean's Corner."  We want to hear your stories. Starting with our next issue, we will begin to feature current students and alumni willing to share in the "My Story" column memories of their time in the Graduate School at Howard. Who says undergraduates have all the fun? Not me.

I have so many wonderful memories of my time in the Grad School at Howard that it will be hard to choose. But from time to time, I'll do just that. I hope you will, too.

Cheers to spring and all it brings....

Dana A. Williams, PhD | Graduate Dean