Bouncing to the beat of African drums, more than 170 University of Miami black graduates were honored Wednesday at the annual Senior Mwambo celebration.
Held in the Donna E. Shalala Student Center, the jubilant event included songs performed by graduating students, spoken word poetry, well wishes from administrators, and an inspiring address from alumna Dr. Lattisha Bilbrew, along with a reception hosted by the University of Miami Black Alumni Society.
For many graduating students, the most exciting part of the Senior Mwambo was when they received a special 2025 stole made of Ghanaian fabric called kente cloth, as their parents, friends, and faculty and staff cheered them on.
“This is such an important ceremony to recognize black heritage and the black graduates here at the U, so that as we depart, we feel the support to send us off right,” said Zuri Greenlee, one of the graduates and outgoing president of United Black Students (UBS). “While we are only 5 percent of the student body, we have done amazing things for the University community, and I am thankful for everyone that has made today possible.”
Kennedy Robinson-Birt, director of the University’s Department of Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) led the ceremony, along with Madison Rodas, associate director of MSA. They were joined by the outgoing president of the Black Alumni Society, Astin Hayes, as well as its new president, David Mullings.
Renée Dickens Callan, assistant vice president of student life, introduced Patricia Whitely, senior vice president for student affairs and alumni engagement, who offered a brief history of black student involvement at the University. It began with UBS, which formed in 1967. It continued with the University’s first Black Culture Week in 1970, and with the first black student government president, Ray Bellamy, a Hurricanes football player who was elected to the role in 1971.
In 1992, the Senior Mwambo celebration began at the urging of a Malawian international student, Patrick Masala, who named the event after an East African rite of passage ceremony. Today, it marks the transition of Black graduates from the University of Miami to advanced education and professional careers.
“We are so proud to continue this tradition today,” Whitely said. “And we thank your class for everything you’ve done on campus, for your leadership, and for leaving this legacy. I hope that you will continue to stay involved in the University.”
Guillermo “Willy” Prado, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, also thanked the graduates for their hard work and contributions to campus life.
“You have transformed UM since your arrival in many different ways, and I hope you continue to change the world because all of you certainly have the ability to do so,” he said. “Diversity is key in everything we do, and we are all very glad you are here at the U.”
Alumna Dr. Lattisha Bilbrew spoke about her experiences as a student at the University in the 2000s, when she was involved in United Black Students, her sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, as well as the National Panhellenic Council, and beyond. Bilbrew said part of her motivation to pursue medicine came from two experiences with racism. The first was seeing how her grandmother was treated in an English hospital, and later, when an instructor questioned her ability to become a doctor because of her skin color.
She went on to graduate from the University with majors in chemistry and neuroscience, and attended medical school at Morehouse School of Medicine. She completed a residency at the University of Texas and a fellowship in orthopedics at the University of Florida. Today, Bilbrew is one of about five black female surgeons in Georgia and is the first black female physician to become a partner in her surgical practice.
Bilbrew told graduates that although the current environment can be daunting for African Americans, they are now armed with an education and more technology tools than ever before, which will help them succeed.
“Unequal expectations will come, but preparation is power,” she said. “Education is leverage, so apply it with boldness…You aren’t just the inheritors of a dream, you are the architects of the next one.”
Finally, MSA also gave out three Nanga Awards to graduating students considered reliable leaders, who have offered countless contributions to student life. They were:
- Zoe Mutumbo, a health management and policy major
- Alexis Owens, studying psychology and sociology
- Zuri Greenlee, studying exercise physiology
MSA also gave out a new award called the Sankofa Award, for a graduate student who “reaches back to lift others up and builds pathways for the future,” Rodas said.
It was awarded to Guerdiana Thelomar, who is earning her doctorate in community well-being this week from the School of Education and Human Development.
Students involved United Black Students, such as Mutombo, Greenlee and Michael Robinson, said they found a second family in these multicultural student organizations.
“MSA and UBS really gave me a home away from home,” said Robinson, a neuroscience major pursuing his doctorate this fall at Florida Atlantic University. “I will miss being involved in student organizations because UM is like no other place in that respect. Here you can have connection and friendship, while also being involved, and these friendships I made will last a lifetime.”
