Dr. Brianna Ross Honored with 2025 Howard Simmons Dissertation of the Year Award

The Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership & Policy proudly announces that Dr. Brianna Ross (Ed.D., Urban Educational Leadership) has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Howard Simmons Dissertation of the Year Award for her dissertation, “As If the Joy-Parts Were Accidental: Unearthing Joy Through Students’ Counter-Stories of Baltimore County Colored Schools.”

Dr. Ross’s research amplifies the voices of Black students who attended colored schools in Baltimore County, Maryland, seeking counter-stories that center joy rather than deficit. Grounded in Critical Race Theory and Desire-Based Research, her work challenges damage-centered narratives that have historically framed these schools as sites of dispossession and inferiority.

Using narrative inquiry, Dr. Ross identified five key themes that illuminate the intentional cultivation of joy, profound learning, cultural affirmation, and belonging in segregated educational spaces. Her findings reveal that the joy experienced by students in these schools was not accidental, but a deliberate act of resistance and identity-building—a creation of homeplace for Black students amid systemic injustice.

“[T]he cultivation of joy was not accidental, but an intentional act in pursuit of creating homeplace for Black students,” Dr. Ross writes in the Conclusion of her dissertation. “Participant stories interrupt master narratives of colored schools by highlighting the profound learning, cultural affirmation, and sense of belonging that occurred in these spaces.”

This compelling study encourages educators to reconceptualize what is achievable for Black students in today’s classrooms. Dr. Ross’s work provides a visionary framework for educational environments that affirm student identity, foster belonging, and cultivate excellence.

The Howard Simmons Dissertation of the Year Award honors exceptional doctoral research that promotes equity, inclusion, and innovation in urban education. Dr. Ross’s dissertation pioneers new perspectives by reframing the Black student experience through the lens of joy, challenging traditional narratives and establishing a bold standard for equity-centered educational research.

Dr. Juana Hollingsworth Receives Honorable Mention for Groundbreaking Dissertation on Black Women’s Leadership in Higher Education

Additionally, we are proud to announce that Dr. Juana Hollingsworth (Ph.D., Higher Education) has received an Honorable Mention for her powerful dissertation titled "I’m Always on the Clock: Black Women’s Leadership Labor in Black Student Union Chapters at Predominantly White Institutions."

Dr. Hollingsworth’s research brings much-needed attention to the emotional, cultural, and organizational labor that Black women student leaders shoulder within Black Student Unions (BSUs) at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Her work underscores the persistent, often invisible demands placed on these leaders and the ways they respond by cultivating space, building community, and sustaining support networks—despite institutional challenges.

Through compelling narratives and rigorous analysis, Dr. Hollingsworth elevates voices that are frequently marginalized in higher education discourse. Her scholarship offers profound insights into leadership, identity, equity, and resilience in student life, and it stands as a critical contribution to the field of higher education.

We congratulate Dr. Hollingsworth on this well-deserved recognition and celebrate the impact of her scholarship in advancing understanding and equity in educational leadership.