More than 50 years after she earned her master’s degree from American University, Pamela Higgins Harris, CAS/BA ’72, MEd ’73, SOE/EdD ’25, was back on the stage at Bender Arena during the 149th commencement, May 10. Her doctoral hooding at age 75 marked the completion of an incredible trifecta for the lifelong educator and activist. 

AU is deeply woven into the fabric of Harris’s life. She married her husband of more than 50 years, Tyrone Harris, CAS/BA’72, WCL/JD ’75 in a candlelit ceremony at AU’s Kay Spiritual Life. The couple helped elevate AU’s original Black Student Union in the late 1960s, and Harris, who serves as a senior consultant with the Center for Education Equity, also serves on the Alumni Board.

Here, the triple Eagle reflects on her remarkable academic and professional journey and the importance of lifelong learning.

Why did you decide to pursue your doctorate as a septuagenarian?

In 2022, I had the honor of joining my Class of 1972 counterparts as we advanced together as 50-year AU Golden Eagle alumni. The decision to enroll in SOE came as a surprise 70th Golden Eagle birthday present. SOE made me feel welcomed, encouraged, and accepted—despite my chronological age—allowing me to pursue a significant goal that I initially thought was unattainable. 

It was positively uncanny to find myself, 50 years later, as part of yet another trailblazing AU program. The inaugural SOE education policy and leadership doctoral program offered an ideal 21st-century version of the cohort model that I benefitted form during my [master’s program] . . . and offered me the perfect platform to engage, advocate, and discover a renewed sense of purpose.

What did you enjoy most about the experience?

Pursuing my EdD [was] like a renaissance rebirth—a culmination of my lifelong commitment to education and justice, rooted deeply in the legacy of my collective family. I felt a profound, growing urge to honor the core values of my lineage—which includes five Harris family members, including myself, who are American University alumni—by elevating my capacity for advocating for systemic equity in education. 

This experience was especially meaningful in supporting my efforts to cultivate and forge constructive pathways to leadership across generations and races. As I progressed into my Golden Eagle status, I cherished this unique opportunity to actively seize and embrace a pivotal, historical full-circle moment and [to] embody what it means to “be the change,” while living in the century following the one in which I was born, raised, and educated.

Why is lifelong learning important?

Learning is not restricted by age; on the contrary, it is replenished by it. In this phase of my life, education transcends the parameters of traditional professional pathways. It extends itself into powerful realms of connecting and contributing to a “revolving revelations legacy”—one that is cyclically rebirthed in civic community cultures nurtured in equity and excellence for whomever I am with, wherever I am, however I can, for as long as I can.

Despite the high level of academic challenge and the societal upheaval surrounding us, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to evolve within what I experienced as a holistically balanced and centered environment. This atmosphere skillfully prioritized radical hospitality, radical civility, and radical healing—transforming my perspective from envisioning myself as 70-75-years-old to 70-75-years-young.