Meet Violet Edwards '22, °ϲ's newest and oldest graduate
Commencement always generates a lot of pride for graduates and their families – but the feeling was especially fierce this year in Parkland, Florida, as Violet Edwards ’22, age 96, earned her Associate of Science degree from °ϲ College. Edwards is the oldest black American to receive a college degree, and the fifth oldest person in the world to do so. Like so many of our students, she had started a college journey, but put it on pause to help support her family. She came to °ϲ many years later, and with the help of family Edwards not only achieved her degree but mastered the process of taking courses online required to get there.
In a surprise commencement ceremony held at her retirement community, Aston Gardens, °ϲ College President Tim Hall - via Zoom - conferred her degree, her PACT Mentor Kathyria Feliciano Cosme presented Violet with an official diploma, and the Jamaican Consul General for Florida Oliver Mair read a decree in her honor. Her family was also in attendance, including daughter Christine, who said she had “the best mom in the world.”