BOSTON (May 2, 2023) – Roxbury Community College (RCC) is proud to announce impending graduate Alee Sharma of Brookline has been named to the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-Massachusetts Academic Team. Each spring, the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC) honors students selected for the academic team. This year’s ceremony will be held virtually at 10am May 4.
On May 12, Sharma will receive an associate degree in biotechnology from RCC with a GPA of 3.95 and will be honored with RCC’s President’s List award. She earned her RCC degree while working part time and raising her six-year-old son. Previously, she earned a degree in electrical engineering before immigrating to the United States from India in 2015.
“I want to inspire parents like me to dream and go back to college,” Sharma says. “I hope this will also encourage women back home to pursue higher degrees because education for girls is still scarce in India.” After graduating from RCC, Sharma will start a SPARC fellowship from Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center to work on cancer research. She will also be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology at Northeastern University.
RCC is also marking the accomplishments of the other students graduating May 12 who are PTK members: Ruth Gearin, Haqikah Greaves, Shameeka Moreno, Ifunaya Obi – Osuagwu, and Rachelle Rollins.
“Alee and her fellow PTK members personify the talent, determination, and perseverance that defines Roxbury Community College students,” says Jeff Van Dreason, RCC Dean of Liberal Arts and Health Careers. “RCC has given them the foundation to make a major contribution to both their families and their community moving forward.”
The achievements of the 157 graduating members of the RCC Class of 2023 will be celebrated as they receive their diplomas May 12 at 1pm at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. The ceremony will include speeches by keynote speaker Chancellor David C. Banks, who leads the New York City Public Schools, the largest school system in the nation; RCC Interim President Jackie Jenkins-Scott, who was recently named one of Boston Magazine’s 150 Most Influential Bostonians; and student speaker and PTK member Haqikah Greaves. The RCC 2023 Commencement is one of many events marking RCC’s fifty years of its heritage, cultivating leaders, and creating change.
