Some students arrived carrying honor cords and graduate hoods. Others carried something less visible: years away from school, jobs worked between classes, family responsibilities, sacrifice or the weight of beginning again.
At the podium stood student speaker Robel Haileyhesus, originally from Ethiopia, as he prepared to address a graduating class that reflected nearly every path imaginable.
Some students came to UDC directly from high school. Others arrived after military service, careers, parenthood or years away from the classroom altogether. Some had traveled thousands of miles to study in Washington. Others grew up only a few blocks from campus.
Some students began at UDC through workforce certification programs. Others arrived for graduate school or law school years later. The university has long built its mission around meeting students where they are in life and helping them move forward.
For Donta Thornton, the road to commencement began long before Saturday morning.
Eleven years ago, Thornton walked out of prison determined not to return.
“I knew that once I got out of prison, I would do everything I could do to stay free and remain free,” he said.
Within weeks of his release on May 27, 2014, he enrolled in classes and registered for Project Empowerment, a D.C. employment program. By December of that year, he arrived at UDC through a job placement opportunity.
“One thing I have a passion about is UDC,” Thornton said. “I am indebted to UDC.”
The university, he said, saw something in him before he fully saw it in himself.
“They took a chance on me, saw something within me and said, ‘Give him an opportunity.’”
Thornton grew up in Prince George’s County and attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School before, as he described it, being led astray while trying to navigate difficult circumstances as a teenager on his own.
But even while incarcerated, he never stopped believing he would eventually return to society with purpose.
He learned trades. He studied computer-aided drafting. Eventually, he became certified and began teaching CAD classes to other incarcerated men — grading assignments, helping students prepare for exams and mentoring others trying to rebuild their futures too.
“The one thing that happened when I was in prison is that I never gave up on myself,” he said.
At UDC, that determination found direction.
Thornton remembered faculty and staff members encouraging him to continue his education even before he fully believed it himself.
“Dr. Harrison told me I was going back to school,” he recalled. “They didn’t say when or how, but they gave me a blueprint.”
He enrolled while continuing to work full time during the day and attending classes at night, often remaining on campus until 10:30 p.m.
“I never wavered for one moment,” he said.
His daughter sometimes attended those classes with him. Now eight years old, she sat beside him while professors welcomed her into discussions and lessons.
“She was taking classes too,” Thornton said with a laugh.
Saturday’s graduation ceremony carried special meaning because she would finally see her father walk across the stage himself.
“Telling her is one thing,” he said. “But her being there is another thing.”
Thornton graduated with a Bachelor of Science in urban architecture.
Years earlier, in 2016, he served as a stage marshal during a UDC commencement ceremony without knowing where his own path at the university might lead.
“I had never seen one in my life,” he said. “And then I was a part of one.”
Now, he has become a graduate himself.
“These people changed my life,” Thornton said.
That impact, he believed, now extended to his daughter as well.
“I don’t know if many institutions have as much impact as UDC,” he said. “It has impacted my life and my daughter’s.”
Nearby sat Md. Mazharul Islam, who returned to academia after years working in engineering while balancing family life and graduate school in a new country.
Originally from Bangladesh, Islam earned a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from UDC’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences — his fourth engineering degree overall.
“This degree was not easy for me,” Islam wrote in a message shared after commencement. “Returning to academia after being in industry came with challenges, sacrifices, uncertainty and many sleepless nights.”
Islam said a single email from Professor Hossain Azam helped redirect the course of his life.
“You have an impressive resume,” the email began. “We would like to consider you for the open positions either for Fall 2023 or Spring 2024.”
“That single email changed a major direction of my life,” Islam wrote.
Earlier this year, Islam lost both of his parents.
“I know they would have been incredibly proud to see this moment,” he wrote. “I miss both of you every single day.”
This spring, he began working in the American water sector as a water process designer with Gannett Fleming TranSystems.
“To everyone chasing a dream,” he wrote, “keep working hard quietly. Success will come.”
Nearby, twin sisters Mahlet and Mahder Akalu Demissie waited together as graduates lined up for the ceremony.
Originally from Ethiopia, the sisters earned master’s degrees in computer science from UDC’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences after years of studying side by side.
“It has been an incredible advantage to have someone go through the same path as me,” Mahlet said. “It was very helpful and the reason for my success.”
For Mahder, graduating together represented more than shared academics.
“We’ve overcome obstacles and learned how to rely on one another,” she said. “Sharing this moment made it even more special and motivating for what’s next.”
Both sisters said their interest in technology began years ago and eventually developed into a desire to solve real-world problems through computer science.
Their favorite memories at UDC were not necessarily academic ones.
Mahlet remembered a Six Flags trip with fellow students before the beginning of a busy semester. Mahder recalled Spring Bling Carnival and the feeling of watching the UDC community come together outside the classroom.
Elsewhere in the graduating class were twin sisters Kayleah and Kayleigh Shelton, who came to UDC from Portland, Jamaica.
Kayleah Shelton, a political science major, served as president of the Undergraduate Student Government Association during the university’s 175th anniversary year and was recognized nationally as a 2024 HBCU White House Scholar.
Her sister, Kayleigh Shelton, graduated with a degree in accounting and finance with concentrations in logistics and international trade and AI in robotics. A member of the women’s track and field team, student ambassador and Deloitte tax consultant, Kayleigh said sharing the experience with her sister made the moment even more meaningful.
“Going through this journey together has been very meaningful,” she said. “We have been able to support, motivate and encourage each other through every challenge and accomplishment.”
Now, the sisters celebrated graduation side by side.
“Graduating together was a full-circle moment and something I will always cherish,” Kayleigh said. “It represented all the hard work, sacrifices and perseverance we both put in over the years.”
Some of her favorite memories at UDC, she said, came through student leadership, athletics and the friendships she built along the way.
“Those experiences helped shape me into the person I am today,” she said.
Their story reflects something familiar at UDC: no two paths to graduation look exactly alike.
The university has long built its mission around students from every walk of life, meeting them where they are, and helping them move forward.