This May, Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, held a ceremony honoring the graduates from the Class of 2026. These events marked the College’s 157th Commencement exercise on May 16. While the Commencement event closed out graduation weekend, it began with a student-centered Senior Convocation featuring reflections and performances by several members of the graduating class, and included a “Senior Send-Off” breakfast hosted by the Blackburn Alumni Association. Both the Senior Convocation and Commencement ceremonies were streamed on the Blackburn website at Blackburn’s Graduation page.
President Larry K. Lee presided over the ceremony and shared congratulatory remarks with the graduates, faculty, staff, students, and families in attendance. “What makes this campus so special is not only the landscape, the buildings, or the canopy of trees above us. It is the people. Blackburn is a Work College, and this campus has quite literally been built, maintained, and improved by our students and alumni,” Lee said. “At 189 years old, Blackburn College is among the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. Generations of students have come to this same place with hopes, ambitions, and a willingness to work hard for something greater than themselves. Graduates, that passage now includes you. You have lived here. You have worked here. You have helped sustain one of the oldest colleges in our nation. You are now part of the rich and distinguished history of Blackburn College.”
The Commencement ceremony on Saturday featured remarks from keynote speaker and Class of 1999 Blackburn College alum Kahindo Mateene, an award-winning fashion designer and entrepreneur. Mateene is the founder of the fashion brand KAHINDO, known for bold occasion wear that blends African heritage with modern design. After graduating from Blackburn in 1999, she gained national recognition on Project Runway and has seen her designs featured by major retailers such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Anthropologie. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, The New York Times, Elle, Essence, and Marie Claire. “There were moments when I questioned my abilities. Moments, I wondered if I was worthy of standing on this stage. And then I remembered something my father taught me: Your worth is not determined by your circumstances. It is determined by your courage to continue. He walked miles to school. He raised five children alone. He built a life from nothing but will and intelligence. And I thought: the greatest tribute I can give this man is to keep going. So I did.”
She continued, “Graduates — life will test you. You will experience rejection. You will experience loss. You will experience moments when your plans completely fall apart. In those moments, remember this: Perseverance is not glamorous. It is quiet.”
During Commencement, academic and leadership awards were presented to the graduating class, including naming Storm MargieMae-Alice England, from Carlinville, Illinois, and Beth Elise Brill, of Sterling, Illinois, as two of the top academic performers in this graduating class. Kate Louise Merriman, from Eldred, Illinois, earned the Outstanding Graduate Award from the Blackburn College Alumni Association.
Darius Duff, who served as Student Marshal – Blackburn’s highest honor for a senior student – for the Class of 2026, delivered remarks to the gathered crowd. “After transferring to Blackburn after my freshman year, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I had never worked a traditional job before, and I had never lived in a town with fewer than 90,000 people, so it was a huge culture shock. Little did I know that the Work Program, faculty, staff, and my peers would have such a positive impact on both my college experience and my future career goals. Being a manager in the Work Program and serving as a Business TA taught me many skills that I can carry into my future career. As a future tax accountant, I know my role will require me to be detail-oriented, dependable, and accurate. Working as the manager of the Academics Department helped prepare me for that. Whether I was editing time cards, grading tests and quizzes, or holding study sessions, I learned how to be reliable and precise in my work.”
“And P.S. — if anyone needs their taxes done next April, shoot me a text!”
President Lee concluded the ceremony with a charge to the Class of 2026, “You did not simply attend Blackburn College. You lived Blackburn College. And that matters. Because Blackburn is not like other colleges. Here, education is not just something that happens in a classroom. It happens in offices, kitchens, labs, residence halls, athletic fields, and maintenance shops. It happens when students take responsibility—not just for their own success—but for the success of the entire institution. You didn’t just go to college. You helped run a college. And that is something very few graduates anywhere in the country can say. Out of thousands of colleges and millions of students across America, only one group can say that. You. Only Blackburn. Only you.”