May 8, 2025

The Goodwin College of Professional Studies will celebrate its 2025 graduates with a commencement ceremony on Wednesday, June 11 at 5:00 p.m. The ceremony, to be held in the Mandell Theater on Drexel’s University City Campus and live-streamed online for those unable to attend in person, will pay tribute to graduating students’ hard work and success.

In addition to remarks by Goodwin Executive Director Brian Ellis, PhD, graduating students and attendees will hear from honored guest and keynote speaker Elleanor Jean Hendley. Hendley is an Emmy award-winning pioneer in Philadelphia broadcast journalism and an advocate for empowering girls. She was the only woman of color to produce and host a weekly prime-time magazine show, City Lights, which aired for ten years during her 25-year tenure at CBS-3.

Hendley also served as the Eyewitness News education reporter and Director of Public Affairs and founded Teenshop, Inc.®, a nonprofit volunteer college-prep and life-skills program. With chapters in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Teenshop has influenced over 3,000 alumnae and achieved a 100% college acceptance rate. Hendley also founded Girls Achieve® to provide in-school curriculum support and enrichment programs for middle school girls and is the author of the Girls Achieve Activity Book.

Representing the Class of 2025 are two graduating student speakers:

Candice A. Platel ’25
Undergraduate Student Speaker

Candice earned her Bachelor of Science in general studies as a part-time, online student while working for Drexel as Associate Director of University Facilities.

Chisa D. Merriweather, MS ’25
Graduate Student Speaker

Chisa earned her Master of Science in nonprofit management while balancing school with work and family obligations.

Joining the student speakers on stage will be Charity Backus ’25. Backus graduated in fall 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in general studies, along with the School of Education’s DragonsTeach Middle Years minor and additional academic minors in Spanish and linguistics. She accomplished all of this while earning a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. On behalf of Interim President O’Brien and Provost Jensen, she has been invited to join the stage party during the commencement ceremony and will receive a certificate for having earned a 4.0 cumulative grade point average.

Backus will also be recognized alongside her father, Robert Backus ’25, who is graduating from Goodwin having earned his Bachelor of Science in general studies as a part-time student while working as a Class A Mechanic with Drexel’s Transportation Services. The perseverance the elder Backus showed no doubt laid a foundation that supported Charity’s efforts and contributed to their unique father-daughter success story.

Further details on Goodwin’s ceremony and other Commencement activities can be found on Drexel’s Commencement website.