Talladega College will confer three honorary degrees at its milestone 150th Commencement Exercises at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2025 in the Student Activity Center Arena. To be honored with Doctors of Humane Letters are William J. Bynum, Rockell Metcalf ‘85 and S. Epatha Merkerson who will also serve as commencement speaker.
William "Bill" Bynum is the founding CEO of Jackson, Mississippi-based Hope Enterprise Corporation, Hope Credit Union and Hope Policy Institute, a family of organizations dedicated to strengthening the financial health and wealth of people in under-resourced communities across the Deep South. Recently, HOPE Enterprise Corporation made a $15 million investment in Talladega College to support the college’s long-term viability.
Since 1994, HOPE has generated billions of dollars in financing for community economic development that has benefited over three million people in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. A native of New York, Bynum graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree, double majoring in political science and psychology. He is a member of the U.S. Academy of Arts & Sciences, an alumnus of the Henry Crown Fellowship, Emerson Collective Dial Fellowship and Salzburg Global Fellowship.
S. Epatha Merkerson is best known for her role as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on NBC’s “Law & Order” for which she won three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. Merkerson is currently playing hospital administrator Sharon Goodwin on “Chicago Med,” now in its 10th season on NBC. It was Merkerson’s role as Rachel “Nanny” Crosby in the HBO film “Lackawanna Blues” that earned her Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Gracie Allen, and NAACP Image awards.
Among Merkerson’s theatre credits are “Come Back Little Sheba” and August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She earned an Obie Award for her work in “I’m Not Stupid” and a Helen Hayes Award for “The Old Settler.” Merkerson holds a BFA in theatre performance from Wayne State University. She has been awarded with honorary doctorates from her alma mater, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Montclair State University, and The University of Pittsburgh.
A 1985 graduate of Talladega College, Rockell Metcalf currently serves as vice president and chief counsel-marketing at Prudential Financial in New York City. In addition, he was a co-executive producer and writer of the award-winning documentary, “The Contradictions of Fair Hope”, which was featured on STARZ. He is also a published co-author of “The Practical Guide to Broker-Dealer Regulation” and obtained a 2008 U.S. Patent for a “System and Method of Dividing a Remittance and Distributing a Portion of the Funds to Multiple Investment Products.”
Metcalf earned his Talladega degree, with high distinction, in biology. While at Talladega, Metcalf served as the Student Government Association president and Polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He earned his LL.M. from Columbia Law School and a J.D. from Mitchell Hamline School of Law where he served as executive editor of the Hamline Law Review.
