In honor of Black History Month, we would like to spotlight some of our outstanding OΔK members!
Roxane Gay
Michigan Technological University, 2008
Roxane Gay is a celebrated American author, professor, and social commentator. She earned her undergraduate degree from Norwich University, her master’s degree from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and her doctorate from Michigan Technological University. Gay has been a faculty member at both Eastern Illinois University and Purdue University. She is currently the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University.
Gay is the author of The New York Times’ best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist (2014), as well as the short story collection Ayiti, the novel An Untamed State, the short story collection Difficult Women, and the memoir Hunger. She is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, founder of Tiny Hardcore Press, essays editor for The Rumpus, co-editor of PANK – a nonprofit literary arts collective, and the editor for Gay Mag. Her works have received numerous honors. In 2016, Gay and poet Yona Harvey were announced as writers for Marvel Comics’ World of Wakanda, a spin-off from the company’s Black Panther title, making them the first black women to be lead writers for Marvel.
Eric L. Motley
Samford University, 1995
Eric L. Motley is the current deputy director of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He is the former vice president of the Aspen Institute and Managing Director of the Henry Crown Fellows Program, a program centered on developing the next generation of community-spirited leaders. Eric previously served as the director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Visitors within the bureau of Public Diplomacy. He was special assistant to President George W. Bush for Presidential Personnel, where he managed the appointment process in the White House for more than 1,200 advisory board and commission positions appointed by the President.
Throughout his career, Motley has been involved with a wide range of local, state, and national organizations. He is the author of the celebrated book Madison Park: A Place of Hope. Motley earned a bachelor’s degree at Samford University and master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He was one of the featured speakers at the 2018 O∆K Biennial Convention and Leadership Conference.
Monica J. Pearson
Emory University, 1995
Monica J. Pearson is an award-winning journalist and writer. She spent 37 years with WSB-TV in Atlanta. When Pearson joined the station in 1975, she was Atlanta’s first woman and first African American to anchor the 6:00 p.m. news. She went on to anchor the news broadcasts for WSB at various time slots through the years.
Pearson is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and is a graduate of the University of Louisville. Before starting her roles in Atlanta, she was a reporter for The Louisville Times for five years and spent three years as a reporter and anchor for WHAS-TV in Louisville for three years. Pearson also worked for Brown-Forman Distillers before joining the television station. She earned her master’s degree with a major in mass communication from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Throughout her career, Pearson has been involved with numerous professional associations. She is the recipient of 30 local and regional Emmy Awards, along with numerous other recognitions. Pearson is the 2018 recipient of Omicron Delta Kappa’s Pillars of Leadership Award in Communications.
Myron L. Rolle
Florida State University, 2008
Myron L. Rolle’s collegiate career was the embodiment of the term “student-athlete.” At Florida State University, he was a starting safety and was eventually drafted by the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, where he earned a Master of Science with a major in medical anthropology. Rolle returned to Florida State to enroll in its College of Medicine.
Rolle is currently a neurosurgery resident at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. He is involved with numerous charitable entities, including the Myron L. Rolle Foundation. The focus of the foundation is the health and wellness of individuals, leadership, and staying active. Rolle also recently published a book entitled, The 2% Way: How a Philosophy of Small Improvements Took Me to Oxford, the NFL, and Neurosurgery.
