Honorary Doctorates

Fela Barclift, known as Mama Fela, GSE ’02, earned her master’s degree in Early Childhood Leadership from Bank Street Graduate School of Education in 2002. She’s a visionary educator who founded Little Sun People, an Afrocentric preschool that incorporates themes of social justice into its curriculum and teaches Black and Brown children, from their very first steps, that they are smart and that they belong. Throughout her career, Mama Fela has remained dedicated to dismantling the effects of systemic inequity on our youngest children. Bank Street honored her with the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award in 2018 for her unparalleled work in the field of early childhood education.

Dr. Carla Hayden is a renowned leader in library science and a fierce advocate for equity, literacy, and universal access to information. She made history in 2016 when she was appointed by President Barack Obama to be our 14th Librarian of Congress, becoming the first woman and the first African American to lead the Library of Congress, our nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. With over 23 years as the CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, she pioneered community-centered programs and opened after-school centers that provided homework assistance and career counseling for teens. She has also served as president of the American Library Association.