75 Years of Black Excellence

2021 marked the 75th anniversary of the graduation of the College’s first Black graduate, Lorraine Wiggan, who received her diploma at Carthage’s 1946 Commencement.

75 Years of Black Excellence logo Throughout 2021 and into 2022, Carthage is paying tribute to the generations of Black Carthage students who, since 1946, have attained and contributed extraordinary levels of achievement in academics, co-curricular activities, scholarly work, and volunteerism; and celebrate our Black alumni, who have achieved excellence in professional careers across every industry and in countless other ways.

In spring 2021, the Carthage Board of Trustees passed a resolution to recognize 75 Years of Black Excellence. The board enthusiastically celebrates the achievements of Black alumni over that span and recognizes 75 Years of Black Excellence as a compelling and important means to bring Carthaginians together, both to celebrate the achievements of the past and to inspire the achievements of the future.

75 Years of Black Excellence lifts up Black communities and voices, and cherish, embrace, and celebrate Black contributions to our beloved Carthage community. Spring 2021 events included the creation of a Java and Justice podcast series and a Black Graduates Ceremony. Fall 2021 events include a Soul Food Luncheon bringing students together with alumni, faculty, and local community members in support of Carthage’s African American students during new student welcome. Additionally, Homecoming Weekend Oct. 15-17 will include a career-networking event for alumni to share tips for success with current students, a tailgate reunion for the Wiggan-Kenniebrew Black Alumni Network, and an Evening of Elegance formal party for students and alumni. The year of celebrations will conclude with Martin Luther King Day celebrations.

Related fundraising events included a Carthage Giving Day challenge that raised more than $5,000 to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on campus including the Wiggan-Kenniebrew Scholarship Funds, the Intercultural Center, and the Urban Teacher Prep Program. Additionally, three trustees gave seed money to create the 75 Years of Black Excellence endowed scholarship fund, which will be awarded to a rising senior to recognize outstanding achievement and/or contributions to campus diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Please visit The Bridge and Carthage calendar. Follow Carthage’s social media and connect with Wiggan-Kenniebrew on Facebook for related updates and news.

Carthage celebrated 75 Years of Black Excellence with a gala event during Homecoming Weekend in O...

Carthage celebrated 75 Years of Black Excellence with a gala event during Homecoming Weekend in O... Carthage celebrated 75 Years of Black Excellence with a gala event during Homecoming Weekend in October 2021.

About Lorraine Wiggan

Lorraine Wiggan The first in her family to attend college, Lorraine Wiggan ’46 majored in music at Carthage, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to teach music and conduct a children’s choir in Edwards, Mississippi, before taking her work to Puerto Rico, where she served in rural parishes for five years.

Over the next 14 years, she served as an organist, established choirs, and extended musical horizons for many Lutheran communities in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Camden, New Jersey; Chicago; and Brooklyn, New York. She earned a master’s degree in music education from Columbia University, with additional study at The Juilliard School. Her Carthage legacy continued when her nieces, Karen Thomas Garrett ’75 and Chief Judge Cynthia Thomas Walker ’78, graduated from Carthage more than three decades later.

Our Alumni

REV. ANGIE KHABEB ’05: A SANCTUARY FROM DESPAIR AND DESTRUCTION

Rev. Angie Khabeb ’05 is the associate pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which became an around-the-clock relief spot for residents in the Longfellow neighborhood after fires from the protests of George Floyd’s killing destroyed most of the surrounding buildings. Rev. Khabeb describes helping her community during such a turbulent time and her own experiences of racism in her community.

“When the community needed us, our doors were propped open.”

Read the Rev. Khabeb’s story

MARCUS KNIGHT ’06: BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS TURBOCHARGER

A year ago Marcus Knight redirected his expertise as a go-to-market strategist to start Cultured Perspective Inc, a consulting firm that helps Black entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into successful businesses. Living in Seattle, the heart of the tech industry, Mr. Knight divides the rest of his energy among three other growing ventures: a multimedia platform with 15 million monthly viewers across the African diaspora, an inclusive kids’ clothing line, and an online mentoring community for Black sales professionals.

“I have a repeatable process that no one has been able to replicate.”

Read Mr. Knight’s story

MARY HOOKS ’04: REFUELING COMMUNITIES FOR A PROTRACTED BATTLE

Community organizer and co-director of Southerners on New Ground, Mary Hooks ’04 discusses how the fight for liberation is a long-term battle, just as it’s been a long-term struggle that has affected many generations.

“The conditions that Black and oppressed people face are a side effect of generations of state-sanctioned genocide, both here and abroad.”

Read Ms. Hooks’ story

DEONTE WARREN, M.M. ’21: BROADENING BROADWAY’S HORIZONS

After COVID-19 closed the curtain on the theatre scene in March 2020, Broadway performer Deonte Warren returned to school in Carthage’s Master of Music program. He devoted his master’s thesis to diversity in the field, with hopes of working with students “who are normally ignored.”

“We have more to offer as artists of color, and we need to make sure the industry stops pigeonholing people into being one thing.”

Read Mr. Warren’s story

About the Wiggan-Kenniebrew Black Alumni Network

The Wiggan-Kenniebrew Black Alumni Network is a group of committed Carthage alumni who have joined with Carthage faculty and staff to increase enrollment of students of color, and to secure the resources necessary to provide these students with the support they need to persevere to graduation and fulfill their post-graduation goals. Priorities for the W-K Network include fundraising, mentoring, connecting students to internships and other career opportunities, and advocating on their behalf.

In March 2018, the Wiggan-Kenniebrew Black Alumni Network established two Wiggan-Kenniebrew Funds: The Wiggan-Kenniebrew Endowed Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for multicultural students. The Wiggan-Kenniebrew Experiential Learning Fund provides support for multicultural students to participate in co-curricular experiential learning opportunities not funded through tuition, such as travel abroad, workshops, conferences, internships, research, and more.

Learn more about the Wiggan-Kenniebrew funds and Black Alumni Network