{"id":1591,"date":"2018-04-18T16:35:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T20:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:35:09","slug":"altruistic-alumni-pay-it-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/altruistic-alumni-pay-it-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Altruistic alumni pay it forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Cardel Louis-Jacques and fianc\u00e9e Shanicia Hanson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Couple donates graduation regalia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, April 18, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shanicia Hanson<\/strong> was about to move in November 2016 when she discovered graduation regalia from her undergraduate days at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I was packing, I came across my cap and gown \u2026 and I asked (fianc\u00e9 Cardel Louis-Jacques<\/strong>) if he still had his,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cHe responded ‘yes,’ but did not know what \u2026 to do with them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louis-Jacques earned a degree in finance from UMES in 2015, while Hanson is a dual degree holder; criminal justice (2013) and a master’s in rehabilitation counseling (2016). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wrote the idea down that, as one of my short-term goals, I would like to collect caps and gowns and donate to students who might be experiencing financial hardship and (be) unable to celebrate their big day,\u201d Hanson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After settling into their new home in Gaithersburg, Md., \u201cwe reached out to a few of our friends and asked if they still had their caps and gowns,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out they were not alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanson then took to social media and floated the idea among UMES graduates about joining them in their grassroots’ effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were overwhelmed with the positive feedback we received and look forward to continue giving back to our dear alma mater,\u201d Hanson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those responding on social media was Cortina Johnson<\/strong> of Frederick, Md., a 2016 rehabilitation services graduate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought ‘I can give back.’ There’s no reason to hold on it,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIf there’s some way I can help somebody’s big day that was as special as I mine was, I was glad to give it up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanson collected nearly two dozen caps and gowns, and paid to have them dry-cleaned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During homecoming in February, she and Louis-Jacques delivered what they had collected to a friend, who in turned passed them on the Office of Institutional Advancement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a good opportunity for alumni to give back, especially young alumni,\u201d Louis-Jacques said. \u201cI know for myself, it was a struggle to pay for a cap and gown.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re able to help and communicate with other people across the country who went to UMES and (who) want to show their support,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’re still a Hawk family even though we’re not on campus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Veronique Diriker, UMES Director of Development, is working with academic unit leaders to create a regalia loaner closet where students can discretely access caps and gowns to participate in graduation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUMES paved the way for my fianc\u00e9 and me,\u201d Hanson said, \u201cand we believe this is a small blessing that we could do and give back to students and the university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

UMES alumni inspired by the generosity of Shanicia and Cardel are encouraged to send <\/em>an e-mail to Dr. Veronique Diriker<\/a> <\/strong>to learn more about how to participate.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Couple donates graduation regalia Wednesday, April 18, 2018 Shanicia Hanson was about to move in November 2016 when she discovered graduation regalia from her undergraduate days at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.  \u201cAs I was packing, I came across my cap and gown \u2026 and I asked (fianc\u00e9 Cardel Louis-Jacques) if he still had his,\u201d Hanson…Read more Altruistic alumni pay it forward<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}