Black Graduates Due Honor Ceremony Will Recognize Hard Work, Achievement

Fri., May 3, 1996

Putsata Reang Staff writer

The way Stephanie Williams sees it, working hard now will pay off later.

Her grades alone prove it.

Williams recently received a $600 scholarship from the local chapter of The Links, Inc., an African American women’s service organization.

The Ferris High School senior will graduate with a 3.72 grade point average.

Williams, 18, played on the varsity basketball team and is a member of her school’s marketing club. She also volunteers in the community through Project Lead, a youth program sponsored by The Links.

After her English class at Spokane Community College, she zips down to Albertsons, where she bags groceries part-time.

She’s no stranger to busy schedules - and success.

Williams is one of about 65 high school and college students who will be honored at a special ceremony Saturday for graduating African American students.

The public ceremony, the first of its kind for Spokane colleges, will be held at 4 p.m. in SCC’s Lair student center.

SCC and the local chapter of the NAACP are sponsoring the free event.

“What we’re doing is applauding their efforts in graduating from high school and college,” said Dr. Jim Williams, SCC president.

The event helps black youths take pride in their accomplishments in a region where there are few black role models compared with larger cities, he said.

But Stephanie Williams said there are role models here. She looks up to her father, Wallace Williams, principal at Rogers High School, and the city’s Affirmative Action director, Dorothy Webster.

“Growing up in Spokane, we tend to get a lot of negative stereotypes,” Stephanie Williams said. “But this shows a person of color can make it through.”

She views the event as one way of nurturing young people to be role models.

“I want to go back into the community and encourage kids to get into school. And to show them as far as being black, that’s not a handicap.”

Students honored Saturday will receive a Kente cloth symbolic of African culture to wear at their graduation ceremonies.

, DataTimes

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