A recap of the 2026 End of Year Celebration

On May 7, 2026, we held our annual End of Year Celebration, bringing together graduating students, their families, faculty, and staff for an afternoon of recognition. Department chair Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara opened the event with remarks before guests shared lunch and conversation. The gathering closed with a year-in-review from Dr. Max Felker-Kantor, who joined the Department of African American Studies faculty this year alongside Dr. Sabrina Thomas.

Dr. Ethelene Whitmire and Dr. Andrene Wright-Johnson led the graduation portion of the event. Dr. Whitmire announced the recipients of the Tom Shick Award and offered remarks honoring the department’s five graduating M.A. students: Griffin Granberry, Ziyen Curtis, Ayshea Banes, Philip Adeyemi, and Seb Melmoth. Three of the five, Granberry, Curtis, and Banes, participated in a hooding ceremony, in which their faculty advisors ceremonially placed the academic hood of their regalia over them, marking the completion of their graduate work. Dr. Wright-Johnson followed with remarks on the undergraduate program, then read aloud the names of every graduating certificate student and major.

The celebration marked another significant transition: the retirement of Dr. Thulani Davis, who concluded her tenure at UW–Madison in May 2026. Emeritus Professor Christina Greene and Dr. Clark-Pujara offered remarks in her honor.

The year-in-review, provided by Dr. Max Felker-Kantor, offered a wider view of our department. Dr. Clark-Pujara received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Whitmire published The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram. Dr. Edmonds was awarded the Jack Rosenbalm Prize for American Humor, the 2026 Katharine Newman Best Essay Award, and a Paul Martin Wolff Center Seed Grant, and was named Associate Editor of The Black Scholar. Dr. Stovall was published in the Race Ethnicity and Education journal and contributed an op-ed to The Washington Post. Dr. Wright-Johnson and Dr. Stovall were selected as a Morgridge Fellows. Dr. Stovall also received the Exceptional Service Support Program award. Texas Tech University named an archival collection after Dr. Thomas. Undergraduate certificate student and SoulFolk Collective research fellow, Micah Sagers, won the Wisconsin Idea Undergraduate Fellowship Award. The SoulFolk Collective Fund, which encompasses the lab and the Freedom School, has raised over $130,000 since September 2025. Our 2026 Day of the Badger campaign brought in $3,925 from the community over two days.

The department also expanded its programming this year, establishing the In Dialogue series and Cookies with the Collective, hosting its second Student Symposium in African American Studies, continuing the Night at the Theatre tradition, and welcoming campus visits from scholars Dr. David Stovall and Percival Everett.

The End of Year Celebration, a permanent fixture in the department’s calendar, celebrates the moment, for we have much to be grateful for, and offers reflection as we send our newest graduates off.

The Department of African American Studies sends a warm congratulations to the Class of 2026:

Philip Adeyemi — M.A. African American Studies

Ayshea Banes — M.A. African American Studies

Milan Braud — B.A. Psychology | African American Studies, Health & Humanities Certificates

Mira Bugata — B.S. Computer Sciences | African American Studies, Data Science Certificates

Ziyen Curtis — M.A. African American Studies

Alayna Daniels — B.A. Communication Arts | African American Studies, History Certificates

Noah Davis — B.A. African American Studies | Sports Communication & History Certificates

Teja Davis — B.A. Environmental Studies & Geography | AIIS, Theatre, Gender & Women’s Studies, African American Studies Certificates

Maya Dettwiler — B.A. African American Studies & Psychology | Gender & Women’s Studies Certificate

Miles Duncan — B.S. Biology | African American Studies, Genetics in a Modern World Certificates

Jane Fredrickson — B.A. Psychology | African American Studies Certificate

Ariana Gillard — B.S.E. Elementary Ed & Education Studies | African American Studies Certificate

Griffin Granberry — M.A. African American Studies

Jason Hill — B.A. African American Studies & Communication Arts

India Zyann Johnson — B.S. Global Health | African American Studies, Environmental Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies Certificates

Zoe Ann King Kukla — B.A. History, Political Science | African American Studies, Public Policy Certificates

Elle Maya Lopez — B.A. Communication Arts | African American Studies Certificate

Yalitza Lopez — B.A. Information Science | African American Studies, Digital Studies Certificates

Olivia Simone Malone — B.S.E. Elementary Ed | African American Studies Certificate

Nathan McGinnis — B.A. History, Political Science | African American Studies, African Studies, Public Policy Certificates

Seb Melmoth — M.A. African American Studies

Sophia Pietan — B.A. English | African American Studies, TESOL Certificates

Ayden Romer — B.A. Legal Studies | African American Studies, Political Science Certificates

Spencer Runde — B.S.W. Social Work, History | African American Studies, Chicana and Latina Studies Certificates

Lydia Seay — B.S. Human Development & Family Studies | African American Studies, Entrepreneurship, Health Policy, Gender & Women’s Studies

Aluna Thomas — B.A. Psychology | African American Studies Certificate

Tatyana Wagner — B.S. Human Development & Family Studies | African American Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies Certificates

Elijah Warren — B.A. International Studies, Environmental Studies | African American Studies Certificate

Marques Watts — B.A. Social Welfare | African American Studies, Criminal Justice Certificates

Sincere Whaleysmith — B.A. Sociology | African American Studies, Food Systems, Global Health, Educational Policy Studies Certificates

Heaven Williams — B.S. Health Promotion & Health Equity | African American Studies, Disability Rights & Services Certificates