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Alumni Update The impact of just one alumna


Rachel Blackburn, class of 1999, tells her New York high school students all about Cen- tral State University.


She is a one-wom- an recruitment department.


Rachel Blackburn, ‘99


Rachel Blackburn, choral music direc- tor at Hempstead High School in Long Island, New York, not only has told her students about her alma mater, she has also been instrumental in many students becoming CSU students.


“I talk to them about Central State University and Mr. Caldwell (Wil- liam Henry Caldwell, CSU Choir Director) all the time,” says Ms. Blackburn, who even has brought prospective students to campus.


Students who have enrolled at CSU as a result of Ms. Blackburn’s influence include graduates: Brandon Kerr and Michael Williams; and current students Brittany Bernard Briannah Cullum, Madeleine Miller and Gabriela Rodriguez.


“Ms. Blackburn is my mentor and she definitely influenced me,” says sophomore Madeleine Miller. “Hear- ing about a school one-on-one is a big influence.”


In fact, an informal survey of CSU


students that asked how they first found out about the University shows that an overwhelming number said it was a counselor or alumni who encouraged them to attend Central State.


Rachel Blackburn came to Central State from Warren, Ohio after hear- ing the CSU Choir performing in a neighboring town. “When I heard them sing, I was overwhelmed,” she recalls. “I knew nothing about Cen- tral State or about an HBCU being in Ohio. I auditioned on the spot.”


She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education in 1999, and is grateful for her CSU experience. “I was in eighth grade before I met my first black teacher,” she recalls. “Now I want my students to see the caliber of professors at Central State, and to pros- per in the HBCU environment.”


She praises the influence on her life to CSU affili- ates Blanche Mayo, Mary B. How- ard, and William Caldwell. “I would


never have received the support I got at Central State anywhere else,” she says with conviction. “These relation- ships remain in my life today.”


Ms. Blackburn went on to earn her master’s degree in music education at New York University, and became the choral music director and teacher at Hempstead High in 2001.


“I want my students to have an enriching college experience, with a high level of quality,” she says. “So of course, that means I tell them all about Central State University.”


(L-R) Gabriela Rodiguez, Madeleine Miller, and Brittany Bernard are students who now attend CSU thanks to Blackburn’s recruitment efforts.


Alumni Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA June 24-26, 2011


Contact Alumni Relations Director Keith Perkins at kperkins@centralstate.edu or (937) 376-6641


14 CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY


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