Delaware State University Welcomes Class of 2030 at 2026 Convocation

Delaware State University welcomed the Class of 2030 during its 2026 Convocation on Tuesday, September 15, marking an important milestone for first-year students as they begin their journey at the University.

Held in Memorial Hall Gymnasium, the ceremony featured remarks from Delaware State University President Tony Allen and a keynote address from Dr. Asya Johnson, a 2003 DSU alumna and creator and founding principal of HBCU Early College Prep High School.

Allen opened the ceremony by welcoming the Class of 2030 and encouraging students to remember the family members, teachers, coaches, mentors and others who helped them reach Delaware State.

“I am excited about your class,” Allen said. “I hear your class name is Transcendent, which means to go higher and higher. And that’s exactly what we are expecting you to do at this wonderful institution of ours.”

He reminded students of the responsibility that comes with the opportunity before them and the important role they now hold within the University community.

“You are the heartbeat of this wonderful institution of ours,” Allen said.

Following Allen’s welcome, Johnson returned to the University she graduated from more than two decades ago to deliver a keynote centered on three words: “Why not me?”

“There is something special about coming back to Delaware State University, not just as an alumna, but as someone who can look back and say, I had no idea when I sat where you are sitting today that much of my life would have changed,” Johnson said.

Looking out at the Class of 2030, Johnson told students that they could not yet know where their Delaware State experience might lead them or what the people sitting beside them might someday accomplish. Among them, she said, could be future entrepreneurs, educators, physicians, attorneys, engineers and innovators who create businesses, technologies and even professions that do not yet exist.

“At some point during your journey here at Delaware State, somebody is going to present you with an opportunity that feels bigger than you,” Johnson said. “When that happens, I don’t want you to first think, ‘Am I ready? Am I good enough?’ But instead I want your first thought to be, ‘Why not me?’”

She encouraged students to carry that mindset with them throughout college, particularly when opportunities seem out of reach or when they find themselves questioning whether they belong.

Johnson also challenged students to think beyond simply choosing a major, earning a degree and finding a job. Instead, she asked them to consider what problems they could solve, what they could create and how their education could eventually open doors for others.

“Don’t simply ask, ‘What am I majoring in?’” Johnson said. “Ask, ‘What problem am I preparing myself to solve?’”

That message, she explained, reflected her own journey after Delaware State. Years after graduating, Johnson began thinking about how young students could experience the culture, expectations and opportunities of an HBCU before reaching college.

She asked why students should have to wait until college to have that experience and eventually turned the question inward: “Why can’t I create it?” and then, “Why not me?”

That idea became HBCU Early College Prep High School in New York City, where students have an opportunity to earn college credits from Delaware State University while still in high school.

“I once walked on the campus of Delaware State University trying to figure out my own future, and then years later, the same university helped me now develop the next generation,” Johnson said. “That is what legacy is.”

Johnson urged students to take full advantage of their time at Delaware State by meeting professors, attending office hours, studying abroad, pursuing internships, joining organizations, conducting research, seeking leadership opportunities and building relationships with mentors.

“Don’t spend your four years waiting for someone to discover you,” she said. “Discover yourself. Use this university.”

She also acknowledged that those four years will bring challenges. There may be difficult classes, disappointing grades, financial or family challenges and moments when students question their major or even themselves.

During those moments, Johnson told them to remember that they were admitted to Delaware State because someone recognized their potential, but ultimately, they must recognize it within themselves.

“College isn’t simply about earning credits to leave,” Johnson said. “It is about becoming someone who is different from the person who arrived.”

Before concluding, Johnson gave the Class of 2030 an assignment: Write down something they want to accomplish that scares them. Not a safe goal or something they already know they can achieve, but something big enough to make them wonder whether someone like them could really do it.

Underneath it, she told them to write three words: “Why not me?”

“The world doesn’t need you to graduate,” Johnson said. “The world needs you to develop what’s inside of you and to develop what doesn’t exist yet.”

For the Class of 2030, Johnson’s message was a challenge to use the years ahead not only to earn a degree, but to discover what they are capable of creating and who they can become.