Nearly 70 years after he started, Charles Whitman Dabbs has reached the stage.
The 85-year-old African American Navy veteran from Nashville, Tennessee, earned his doctorate degree at Tennessee State University, an HBCU, after an academic path that began in 1958.
TSU’s graduation ceremony in Nashville brought together nearly 1,400 graduates, each arriving by a different route. Among them was Dabbs, who completed a doctorate in education after decades of stops and starts.
He described the moment as emotional as he prepared to graduate.
“Well, it’s very exciting. I’m a little bit nervous, a little frightful here. I’m just really happy that my family is going to be able to be here,” Dabbs told WWNYTV.
His path began after high school graduation in 1958, when he faced limited opportunities as a Black man in the United States.
He joined the U.S. Navy, then later built a career as a drug counselor and mental health worker while raising a family.
During the COVID-19 period, Dabbs returned to school and enrolled in online classes at Tennessee State University. That return to learning grew into years of study and ended with a doctorate in education.
At TSU, he studied alongside much younger students who helped him with technology and finding his way around campus. He said that support shaped his experience and helped him feel welcome.
“But you know, the young people at this school have been so nice to me and so wonderful to me and so helpful in terms of the technology and where to go when I need something,” Dabbs said.
Now known as Dr. Dabbs, he plans to keep working and hopes to join a historically Black college or university.
“It’s never too late. It’s never too late,” he said.
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