Two graduate students were recognized as the college’s first female doctoral candidates during N.C. A&T’s Spring 2026 commencement.

Agricultural and extension education major La-Donia Alford-Jefferies and sustainable animal production and health major Priyanka Rahul Pande each left the First Horizon Coliseum stage on May 8 with Ph.Ds. in their hands, marking a historic achievement for the college.

Alford-Jefferies, a CAES alumna who received her B.S. in Animal Science in 2010, said she returned to the university to receive her Ph.D. both to be closer to family and because of the college’s doctoral program in agriculture and environmental sciences.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University undergraduate commencement ceremony, held at the First Horizon Coliseum, in Greensboro, N.C.

“I knew that I wanted to get my doctoral degree and had heard that A&T was doing its agricultural program and knew that I could do that and raise my family,” said Jeffries. “A&T will always be home and always feel like home.”

In addition to her recognition alongside Pande, Alford-Jefferies was also named the first doctoral candidate within the agricultural and extension education program.

Pande, who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biotechnology – as well as another B.S. in education – from the University of Pune in India, came to N.C. A&T to pursue her Ph.D. in 2022.

Queen Latifah addresses graduates at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University undergraduate commencement ceremony, held at the First Horizon Coliseum, in Greensboro, N.C.

“I feel truly grateful to be a part of this university,” said Pande. “It has been a supportive environment that has helped me grow personally and professionally, has given me tremendous opportunities and has given me all of the resources needed to pursue my Ph.D. studies.”

Pande and Alford-Jefferies were among 18 CAES post-baccalaureate students in this spring’s commencement.

Females dominated the CAES undergraduate Class of 2026, which had 110 females and 25 males. Antoine Alston, Ph.D., the associate dean of academic studies at the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, said this aligns with the national trend of women comprising the majority of college graduates and enrolled students.

One prominent woman in attendance was Queen Latifah, commencement speaker at the undergraduate ceremony, who encouraged graduates to “have delusional amounts of belief” in themselves.

The hip-hop artist, actor and producer, whose given name is Dana Owens, said she began calling herself Queen Latifah at age 16.

“I was presenting myself the way I saw myself,” she said, “with all the power, all the poise, all the presence and all the purpose of a young Black queen making hip-hop music.

“And you can’t get caught up by people telling you what you’re supposed to be doing, what they think is best for you,” she said. “You have to know it for yourself, because you’re going to be tested.

“Be brave enough to walk down that road that no one else can see but you,” Latifah said.

Sydney “Allyssa” Bryson, who received a bachelor’s in Agriculture and Environmental Systems, recalled how she thought she would never make it to graduation when she first started college.

“It started out slow … and the next thing I know, I blinked and I’m suddenly here,” said Bryson, who plans to continue her studies in graduate school.