“It’s never too late,” said Tennessee State University graduate Charles Whitman Dabbs.
Dabbs, a Los Angeles native, graduated from high school in 1958. He told NewsChannel 5 that there were no jobs for Black boys at the time, which led him to join the Navy at 17. He served as a hospital corpsman and embarked on a 50-year career in federal service, including with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, according to information shared by Tennessee State University.
He went on to have a family and work in a handful of roles, including as a drug counselor and mental health worker. While wearing various hats over the years, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and two master’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.
In the wake of COVID-19, he decided to pursue a doctorate and began taking online courses at Tennessee State University. His younger classmates assisted him when needed, particularly with technology, he told NewsChannel 5.
“I thought I might be overlooked, but it was just the opposite,” Dabbs recalled, according to the university. “The students embraced me. They helped me with technology, and in return, I shared perspectives from living through history they had only read about in textbooks. There was a beautiful intergenerational connection.”
Now, Dabbs has earned his Doctor of Education in higher education leadership at 85. He joined nearly 1,400 Tennessee State University graduates, per NewsChannel 5.
Dabbs hopes that his journey in higher education can be an inspiration to other learners coming from non-traditional backgrounds.
“You know my training is as a social worker, I’m a clinical social worker at heart, and I have always tried to motivate people,” he said, per WILX.
Looking ahead, Dabbs hopes to find a job as a professor of sociology at a Historically Black College and University, according to NewsChannel 5.
