Brenda Drew aspires to teach and pass along to the younger generation the knowledge they have acquired over the years on the Black experience.
But, just as important, they want to continue learning.
“Ultimately, I’d like to be a professor,” Drew said. “I want to keep working in the community and give back as a mentor. I want to be a lifelong learner. You can never stop learning about things.”
Drew, 25, will receive their Master of Arts in Pan African Studies during the Commencement ceremony for the College of Ethnic Studies at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at the Shrine Auditorium. In the fall, they will relocate across the country to begin their doctorate work in Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Drew might not be looking forward to the colder climate of New England, but they are thrilled about the prospect of gaining new perspectives.
“I’m a Californian, so I’m going to miss the sun,” Drew said. “I’m excited about what they have for me in the East Coast. Black life is different in the East Coast, so I’m excited to see what that adds to my educational journey.”
That journey began in their hometown of San Diego. Drew, who is biracial, said their father, paternal grandmother, and aunts encouraged them to learn more about their own personal history.
“I am African American and white, and I grew up in a household that was Black-conscious forward,” they said. “My dad’s side of the family always said I wasn’t getting the full perspective of things, and they were always filling my head with a different side of history that I wasn’t learning in the classrooms. They instilled a desire to learn more about my own family, my community, my own people, and motivated me into this lifelong process of wanting to know more about Pan African studies and the Black diaspora.”
For their undergraduate studies at San Diego State, Drew double majored in Africana studies and history, with a minor in cultural proficiency.
Drew chose Cal State LA for their graduate work because of the university’s longtime commitment to ethnic studies. Its Pan African Studies was founded in 1967 as the second Black Studies department in the nation, and its College of Ethnic Studies is only the second such college in the country, and the first to be established in the United States in more than 50 years.
“Cal State LA has a robust Pan African master’s program,” Drew said. “This is one of the birthplaces and bedrocks of Pan African studies, and Los Angeles has a long history of Black activism and student life. That really attracted me.”
Drew, who is graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average, kept themself busy and connected in their final year at Cal State LA.
They served as president of the Black Student Union.
Drew captured first place in the non-Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) category of the university’s 2026 Grad Slam Competition, the showcase for graduate students’ research and creative activities. The winning presentation was Drew’s graduate thesis, “Fatphobia’s Impact on Plus-Sized Black Women.”
They also spent a month in South Africa in the fall semester as a cohort member of the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program, a federally -funded program by the U.S. Department of Education. It was Drew’s first visit to Africa.
This year’s GPA focused on Iindigenous healing practices of the Zulu people and other local communities. It served as a reminder, according to Drew, that STEM did not originate in the Western world.
“It was an absolutely phenomenal, breathtaking, and eye-opening experience,” they said. “Very plainly, it’s important to visit these spaces. When I set foot on the continent and in the spaces where my ancestors literally traversed, I felt a very spiritual connection. I felt privileged to study abroad, to really sit with people and get their perspectives firsthand. You’re taking your learning to a different level, which I think is important.”
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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 26,000 students and has more than 250,000 distinguished alumni.
Cal State LA is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility, Billie Jean King Sports Complex and the TV, Film and Media Center. For more information, visit www.CalStateLA.edu.
