Four SLU students and alumni will be honored at our upcoming Virtual Graduation Celebration.

Urban Studies MA graduate KenDell Jackson has been selected as the student speaker for the event. A Labor Management Consultant at 1199SEIU Training & Employment Fund and a lifelong Bronx resident, Jackson’s Capstone project examined health disparities in his home borough. During his time at SLU, Jackson was the winner of a University Student Senate Peer Mentorship Scholarship, which recognized his work as a volunteer coach for the Velocity Track Club, where he coaches fifty young athletes including his daughters, Tiarra and Karly.

Two SLU alumni, Kristina Ramos-Callan and Bradley Kolb, will receive the SLU Distinguished Alumni Award. Ramos-Callan began her studies at SLU in the Healthcare Administration Certificate Program and completed a Master’s in Urban Studies as a proud member of the class of 2018. Ramos-Callan’s career in healthcare stretches back to her first job, at age 17, as a ward clerk at a neo-natal intensive care unit. Today, she serves as a Program Manager at United Hospital Fund, where she works to give voice to communities often left on the fringes. Recently, Ramos-Callan developed a collection of Covid-19 resources for pediatricians and families that has been distributed throughout the City and State.

Representing the Labor Studies program is Bradley Kolb, an alumnus of both SLU’s Undergraduate Certificate in Labor Relations and the BA in Urban and Community Studies. Having begun his career in the labor movement at age 16 as an organizer with the United Service Workers Union Local 74, Kolb is currently a representative at the Professional Employees Federation or PEF, where he supports workers at NY State hospitals as they battle each day to care for their patients. Currently pursuing an MA in Labor Studies, Kolb is a proud member of United Steelworkers Local 9265.

Finally, SLU has named Urban Studies MA graduate Neonne Ameer as the winner of the inaugural Student Leadership Award. Ameer established herself as a committed and passionate student leader soon after her arrival at SLU in the Fall of 2018 as a student in the Community Leadership Certificate Program. Since then, she has acted as a student representative on SLU’s inaugural Academic Governing Council, helped organize our school’s first student elections, and presented at new student orientations, among many other activities. A former middle school teacher, Ameer currently works as a College Readiness Specialist for the Harlem Children’s Zone.

SLU’s Virtual Graduation Celebration will be broadcast on CUNY-TV at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cable subscribers in the five boroughs of New York City receive CUNY TV on Ch. 75 (Spectrum and Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). It is also available over-the-air on Channel 25.3.

We hope you will tune in to celebrate with us.