End of Year Highlights

Season’s Greetings from the

Morgan State University School of Social Work

Celebrating a Year of Service, Scholarship, and Shared Purpose

As the year draws to a close and the holiday season invites reflection, gratitude, and connection, we are proud to share highlights from a remarkable year at the Morgan State University School of Social Work (SSW). Like the lights that brighten our neighborhoods and campuses this season, the work of our faculty, students, alumni, and community partners continues to illuminate pathways toward justice, healing, and opportunity.

Coming Together as Community

We opened the academic year by gathering as colleagues and collaborators—reconnecting, welcoming new members, and recommitting ourselves to our shared mission. From the warmth of Homecoming 2025 celebrations to thoughtful Community Conversations hosted by the Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction, our School remained a place where people come together to learn, reflect, and act.

We are grateful for the leadership and presence of Dean Anna McPhatter, Dr. Michael Sinclair, and our many faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners who joined us throughout the year—reminding us that community is both our foundation and our future.

Milestones Worth Celebrating

This year brought meaningful growth and momentum. We proudly celebrated a significant milestone: BSW enrollment reached 316 students, bringing our total enrollment to 621 across our BSW, MSW, PhD, and DSW programs. Nearly 87% of our students are now part of the BSW–MSW pipeline, reflecting our deep commitment to workforce preparation and student success.

Behind these numbers is the dedication of our faculty, advisors, and staff—whose steady guidance ensures that students not only enroll, but persist, graduate, and thrive.

Faculty Leadership and Scholarly Distinction

Throughout the year, our faculty brought Morgan’s voice to local, national, and international stages:

• Dr. Kevin Daniels, LMSW, DSW was appointed to a Board education seat and served as Principal Investigator on a U.S. Department of Justice–aligned evaluation of the Safer Stronger Together initiative, alongside Dr. Sy’Quon Shaw as Co-Principal Investigator.

• Dean Anna McPhatter and Dr. Antoine Lovell published a powerful policy commentary asserting that child care is a human right and essential public infrastructure.

• Dr. Christa C. Gilliam and Professor Dickens advanced innovative violence-prevention scholarship through their article on partnering with Black funeral home directors to reduce mortality and gun violence.

• Dr. Antoine Lovell was selected for the National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility Early-Career Mentoring Institute and earned multiple national conference acceptances, while also being appointed to the Baltimore Renters United Advisory Board.

• Dr. Marline François-Madden was honored with a Penn State Alumni Achievement Award and had her paper accepted for presentation at the 2026 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.

• Dr. Paulette S. Smith published “Reframing Cannabis in Social Work and Public Health: From Prohibition to Equity” and led professional CE trainings through UMSSW.

• Dr. Tonya C. Phillips advanced trauma-informed, faith-based leadership through accepted workshops at NACSW and NASW conferences.

• Dr. Chiao-Yu Yang, Dr. Lujie Peng, Dr. Jerome Schiele, Dr. Miguel Rodríguez, Dr. Sharlene Allen-Milton, Dr. Dana Burdnell Wilson, Dr. Lisa Berglund, Dr. Raymond Adams, Dr. Laura G. Daugherty, Dr. Peter Delany, Dr. David Miller, Dr. Mark Barnes, and Dr. Michal Sinclair each contributed scholarship, training, evaluation, and public engagement that strengthened Morgan’s impact.

Together, our faculty represented Morgan with distinction at CSWE, SSWR, NACSW, AERA, ICUA, and beyond.

Student and Alumni Achievements: Our Greatest Gift

This season, we especially celebrate our students and alumni:

• Kia Jackson-Garnett, Gelissa Gibson, and Korey T. Johnson, Esq. advanced doctoral scholarship through dissertation defenses addressing Black women’s doctoral pathways, AI ethics in social work, and TANF drug conviction bans.

• Ms. Shereika Chin transitioned from internship to employment and was nominated to the Commission on Juvenile Justice by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich.

• Ninah Bell was appointed Co-Chair of the SSWR Doctoral Student Engagement Committee.

• Lakia Coakley earned acceptance to present undergraduate research at the Regional Undergraduate Research Conference.

• Alumni Robert Holmes, Dr. S. Rasheem, Eric Jackson, Dr. Melissa Buckley, and Jessica T. Fauntleroy were named fellows, advisors, and task force members advancing trauma-informed care and community leadership across Baltimore.

Research, Grants, and Workforce Impact

We celebrated major investments in workforce and community capacity, including a $2.5 million HRSA-funded Community-Based Integrated Substance Use Training Program, led by Dr. Laura G. Daugherty with instructional leadership from Mr. Tyrone White, LCSW. Faculty research also addressed housing stability, public safety, mental health equity, youth justice, aging, disability, and substance use—ensuring that scholarship translated into practice and policy.

Community Engagement, Public Scholarship, and Presentations

A defining feature of this year was the School’s deep engagement with communities through public scholarship, dialogue, and professional presentations. Our faculty, students, alumni, and centers served as conveners, educators, and thought leaders—bringing research, lived experience, and policy insight directly to the public.

• The Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction hosted multiple Community Conversation events, welcoming leaders such as Janet Abrahams, President and CEO of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, and attorney and activist Olinda Moyd, whose powerful dialogue on mass incarceration, decarceration, and restorative justice engaged students, community members, advocates, and researchers.

• The Center also welcomed Errika Bridgeford, founder of the CEASE FIRE / PEACE Movement, for a deeply moving community dialogue focused on healing-centered violence prevention, mediation, and community-led peacebuilding.

• Dr. Michael Sinclair, Interim Director of the Center, along with Dean Anna McPhatter and Dr. Laurens Van Sluytman, provided institutional leadership and public engagement, reinforcing Morgan’s role as an anchor institution committed to addressing urban violence through collaboration and evidence-informed practice.

Beyond campus-based engagement, our community’s work reached regional and national audiences:

• Faculty, students, and alumni presented extensively at CSWE, SSWR, NACSW, AERA, ICUA, and the National Association of Black Social Workers, sharing scholarship on disability justice, policing and public safety, trauma-informed practice, Afrocentric and Womanist frameworks, mental health equity, restorative justice, and workforce development.

• Dr. Sharlene Allen-Milton, Dr. Tonya C. Phillips, and Dr. Paulette S. Smith led professional trainings and workshops that supported practitioners across clinical, supervisory, faith-based, and community settings.

• Faculty expertise was featured in public forums and media outlets including the AFRO, Baltimore Business Journal, and professional association platforms, extending the reach of Morgan’s scholarship beyond the academy.

Through these engagements, the School of Social Work strengthened reciprocal relationships with communities—ensuring that knowledge flows not only from campus to community, but from community to campus.

Honoring Legacy, Holding Hope

This year, we paused to honor the life and legacy of President Emeritus Dr. Earl S. Richardson (1943–2025), whose visionary leadership helped usher in Morgan State University’s renaissance and laid the groundwork for generations of scholars and practitioners.

With Gratitude and Looking Ahead

As we enter the holiday season, we extend heartfelt thanks to every faculty member, student, alum, staff member, community partner, and supporter who made this year possible. Your commitment is the light that guides our work—today and in the year ahead.

From all of us at the Morgan State University School of Social Work, we wish you a season filled with rest, reflection, and renewed purpose.