On behalf of the Black Student Association and the Alice Ball Black Graduation planning committee, you are cordially invited to the 11th Mid-Year Alice Ball Black Graduation Ceremony for the Fall 2026 semester.

This ceremony is named for Alice Ball, the first African American woman to earn a master’s degree from the University of Hawaiʻi, formerly the College of Hawaiʻi, in 1915. Alice Ball developed an injectable form of the active agents in chaulmoogra oil, which was used until the 1940s to treat leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. In 2007, Ball was posthumously awarded the University of Hawaiʻi Regents' Medal of Distinction, and on February 28, 2022, Governor Ige signed a proclamation declaring February 28 "Alice Ball Day." Given Ball’s untimely death due to illness, her accomplishments were hidden for over eight decades. Renaming the “Black Grad” ceremony in her honor furthers her legacy while connecting students to one of our most distinguished Black alumnae.

The Alice Ball Black Graduation is open for all to attend. Students who would like to participate must self identify within the Black/African Diaspora and be a graduating student (undergraduate, graduate, or professional) from UH Mānoa in Fall 2026.