[Photo: stillman.edu]
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – For the first time in its near 70-year history, the National Pre-Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) will be led by a Stillman College student.
Junior criminal justice major Akayia K. Allen was named the president of the UNCF National Pre-Alumni Council (NPAC) on Feb. 22 during the 2025 UNCF National Leadership Conference at the Renasant Convention Center. Allen will serve in the role for the 2025-2026 academic year.
“It is an honor to represent Stillman in such an amazing way. I thank God for blessing me to be in the spaces that I prayed for in high school,” Allen said.
Hailing from the small town of Purvis, Mississippi, Allen is the first Stillman student to serve as NPAC president since the student-led organization was created in 1958. The UNCF National Pre-Alumni Council serves as the governing body for each on-campus PAC at UNCF member institutions.
“Today, we celebrate not just a victory for Akayia personally, but a new chapter in Stillman’s legacy as our first national president with the UNCF-NPAC. As she steps into this role, having previously served as national secretary, we look forward to her continuing the good work she has already started, both locally and nationally,” said Jean Wilson, director of Stillman’ College’s Office of Alumni Affairs and advisor to the Stillman PAC.”I am very proud of her and Stillman’s PAC 2024-2025 for representing Stillman in a manner that is in line with the mission, vision, and goals of the college.”
Students who are elected to serve on the National Pre-Alumni Council board are given leadership responsibilities and encouraged to participate in alumni activities prior to and after graduation.
Allen is actively involved in campus life at Stillman, serving in 2024-2025 not only as the NPAC secretary, but the Stillman PAC vice president and president of the non-Greek organization Intelligent Black Women (IBW), which hosts events, participates in community service, and uplifts black women in the community. She is also a member of the NAACP, a Williams Institute Scholar, Student Government Association treasurer, and secretary for the Psychology Club. She was also part of the winning non-Greek women’s team in the 2025 Homecoming Step Show.
After graduation, she plans to join the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department and later work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a special agent.
Nine Stillman College students participated in the UNCF Leadership Conference: Allen, Marshall Bradberry, Myles Bradberry, Gianna Ellison, Gennie Evans, Malyc Grant, Kalin Lewis, Jayden Mills, and Cameron Parker. Ellison represented the College as Miss UNCF-Stillman in the Miss UNCF Pageant.
Two Stillman alumni were also honored: Outstanding Alumnus Danny Neal, Sr., and Outstanding Young Alumna Satin Noland.
Incorporated in 1944, the United Negro College Fund is a philanthropic organization to provide scholarships to black students and 37 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), including Stillman College.
All students enrolled at UNCF-member HBCUs are encouraged to become members of the National Pre-Alumni Council.
