Master’s students earn degrees at 156th Commencement

At McDaniel’s 2026 Graduate Commencement Ceremony, 332 students celebrated the achievement of earning their master’s degrees, conferred from 17 programs.

The graduating students hail from 25 states and Washington, D.C., and 26 countries. A multigenerational class that ranges in age from 23 to 64 years old, most of the graduates earned their degrees in Data Analytics, Counseling, Innovations in Teaching and Learning, Elementary Education, and Human Resources Management. Of the graduating class, 30 hold bachelor’s degrees from McDaniel. 

President Julia Jasken congratulated the graduates on completing their McDaniel education and shared her confidence in their future endeavors. "You are now masters of your professional disciplines, charged with working to confront the world's problems and create solutions that make it better," she said. "I am confident that your McDaniel education has prepared you well for whatever comes next on your professional journey."

President Jasken then welcomed the 2026 Graduate Commencement speaker, Ochieng’ K’Olewe, the L. Stanley Bowlsbey Endowed Chair. K’Olewe has served as coordinator for elementary and secondary certification for the M.S. in Teaching program, formerly Better Educators for Students of Tomorrow (BEST), and has supervised teaching candidate interns. He currently advises undergraduate Secondary Education minors in addition to teaching in both the undergraduate department and graduate program. 

K’Olewe’s experiences have shaped his passion for giving back to his hometown village of Kopudo in Kisumu County, Kenya. During the college’s 2011 January Term, he traveled to Kenya with a group of McDaniel students to renovate a primary school building. In 2016, he helped establish an all-girls high school and a scholarship for its students. He also created a scholarship to support high-need students in the village. 

K’Olewe opened his remarks by calling for all teachers and school librarians to rise for a round of applause and special recognition. He went on to recount how he first arrived in the United States at 19 years old, ready to pursue his college education with a "big, Jackson 5 afro," a "John Travolta beige suit," a $500 cashier's check, and as little as $34 in his wallet. He challenged the graduates to embrace the unknown. “There are times you have to take calculated risks in life in order to achieve what you want or need,” K’Olewe said. “Some of the most important decisions you're going to make [will be made] from that place of uncertainty.” 

He also encouraged the graduates to follow their instincts, sharing the story of the primary school he started in Kenya because his heart knew it was the right time — even with insufficient lighting, a broken chalkboard, unpainted walls, and a rusted roof. After years of effort and improvement, the school was adopted by Kenya's national government this year, achieving the ultimate goal K'Olewe had envisioned when starting the project 15 years prior. "Listen to your heart," he advised the graduates. "As much as you listen to your head, listen to your heart."

Following K’Olewe’s remarks, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies Vickie Mazer introduced the tradition of hooding ceremonies. During the ceremony, each graduate received their academic hood individually on stage while accepting their diploma.   

Three special awards were presented during the ceremony. The Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence was presented to a senior graduate adjunct lecturer in the Educational Leadership. Additionally, The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award was given to a master’s degree recipient in McDaniel College’s Deaf Education program, and The Joan Develin Coley Award for Excellence in Education was presented to a Reading Specialist graduate. 

The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award    

Established in 2011 to honor the memory of B. Jill Brooks Hodge, who received a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Master of Education in 1981, by friends, family, and sorority sisters of Delta Sigma Kappa in honor of the significant impact she had on her students, family, and friends as a person of acceptance, humility, education, and compassion. This award is designated for professional development, is presented annually to a graduate student who has demonstrated academic excellence, and who is preferably majoring in Deaf Education.   

Peter “Trey” Balding III is the 2026 recipient of The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award. He is graduating with a Master of Science in Education of the Deaf. Balding is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, but now lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he is a teacher at the Washington School for the Deaf. 

Balding graduated from Gallaudet University with a Bachelor of Arts in Photography in 2011. While pursuing photography, he worked as a paraprofessional at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind. Inspired by his father’s career as a teacher, he soon realized he enjoyed working at a school with children and pursued becoming a full-time educational assistant. He worked as a paraprofessional from 2016 until 2021, when he became an elementary school teacher. Balding moved to Washington State in 2023 so his children could attend the Washington School for the Deaf, where he is now a secondary science teacher.  

Balding enrolled for his master’s degree at McDaniel to further his knowledge of Deaf education and acknowledges the high-quality education he received at the college. He credits his success to the support of his wife and children, his mentor teachers, and his classmates who supported one another to strive for success.  

The Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence