Congratulations to Our 2026 Graduates!

Ilana graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a minor in Chemistry. She is a member of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, and the Pi Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. In 2022-2024, she was a member of the Dean’s List. Illana was a shift coordinator for the Wake Forest Campus Kitchen (a student-led organization), where she worked with community partners to collect, prepare, and deliver fresh produce and meals to the community. Ilana was also a member of the Wake Forest Concert Choir from 2022-2023 and the Demon Divas a capella group from 2023-2026.  Her plans for the future include taking a gap year to work, shadowing physicians, studying for the MCAT, and applying to medical schools.

Ilana is the daughter of  Mr. William and Lynise Birch.

Christian graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. He was the recipient of the First Baptist Church Scholarship, the Conway Nursing Foundation Scholarship, the Chancellor Scholarship, and the Blue and Gold Scholarship. He will be employed at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in the Trauma ICU. Christian will apply to go back to school for Nurse Anesthesia. His goal for 2026 is to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

Christian is the son of Mr. Darryl and Denise Little.

Daizha graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Spanish. She plans to pursue both a Master’s in Social Work and her Juris Doctorate.

Semassa will receive his PhD in Sociology on Monday, June 15, 2026. He is the son of Drs. Sylvain and Tandeka Boko.

Lauren graduated with a Doctor of Medicine. She will complete a residency in Internal Medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center. She graduated with Distinction in Community Service. She was awarded over twelve scholarships, including the Dean’s Medical Scholarship, the 2023 Kuhnel Regional Scholarship, the Mensa Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Trust, the CHLA Saban Research Institute, and the Greater Pasadena Alliance Medical Scholarship.

Lauren is the daughter of Mr. Alvin and Dr. Pamela Dockery-Howard.

Jasmine graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Sociology. Her PhD was fully funded by the generous support of the following fellowships:
• The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
• The Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
• The University of Michigan’s Rackham Merit Fellowship

Jasmine was awarded many scholarships during her studies. They included:
• American Sociological Association (best paper award written for research by a graduate student)
• Robert Dentler Award for Outstanding Student Achievement by the American Sociological Association
• 2026 Eckstein Prize for Interdisciplinary Research and Policy from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan for her dissertation on heirs’ property

For her dissertation on heirs’ property, Jasmine was named an Emerging Inequality scholar by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. In August, Jasmine will begin a position as a Postdoctoral Scholar in Wealth Inequality at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality in New York City.

Jasmine is the daughter of Deacons Kenneth and Velvet Simington.

Natasha graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice. She received several awards during her studies. In 2022, she was the Novant Health Foundation Guardian Angel Recipient. She also received the Remarkable Nurse Award at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in 2026.

Natasha is the daughter of Mr. Jonathan and Trina Wilson.