In honor of Black History Month, The Scout is taking a look at seven Black Bradley alumni and acknowledging their accomplishments.
Robin Kelly
Robin Kelly graduated from Bradley in 1977 with a B.A. in psychology and received a M.A. in counseling in 1982. Kelly then went on to attend Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Ph.D. in political science in 2004.
Before she was elected into Congress, Kelly was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and served as Chief of Staff to the State Treasurer, Alexi Giannoulias. She also served as Chief Administrative Officer of Cook County.
Kelly was elected to serve as the U.S. representative from Illinois in the 2nd Congressional District. She entered office on April 11, 2013, and got re-elected in 2018. Kelly focuses on improving the health and wellness of communities across the country along with gun reform.
Patrick O’Bryant
Patrick O’Bryant, a former professional basketball player, studied food and nutrition at Bradley from 2004 to 2006. He was a starting center for the Braves men’s basketball team and led them to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
O’Bryant’s stellar performance at the tournament put him in the sights of NBA scouts. He left Bradley after two seasons and was drafted as the ninth pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. During his 13-year professional basketball career, O’Bryant played for the Warriors, the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors, as well as working in the NBA Development League.
O’Bryant’s stellar performance at the tournament put him in the sights of NBA scouts. He left Bradley after two seasons and was drafted as the ninth pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. During his 13-year professional basketball career, O’Bryant played for the Warriors, the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors, as well as working in the NBA Development League.
Michelle Young
Michelle Young, now known as the Bachelorette from season 18, attended Bradley from the years 2011 to 2015 and graduated with a degree in elementary education. During her time at Bradley, she played on the women’s basketball team and won a few notable awards such as MVC honor roll (2015 and 2014) and Two-Time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete (2014-15 and 2013-14).
Young graduated with 1,062 career points, placing her 13th in program history. After graduation, she went on to work as an elementary school teacher in Burnsville, Minnesota. Young first stepped into the spotlight on the 25th season of “The Bachelor ” before becoming the Bachelorette of the namesake show’s 18th season and falling in love with Nayte Olukoya.
Robert Lawrence Jr.
Robert Lawrence Jr. was the first Black astronaut and an U.S. Air Force officer. Lawrence was part of Bradley’s ROTC program and graduated from Bradley in 1956 with a chemistry degree. Lawrence received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State University in 1965.
He was stationed in Germany to teach German pilots to fly American planes and his work in the service got him recognized for the Air Force’s Manned Orbital Laboratory program. This is where he trained to be an astronaut and became the first Black astronaut. However, in 1967, Lawrence was killed in a crash. His memory lives on through a scholarship and a cargo ship named after him.
Anastasie Sénat
Anastasie Sénat graduated from Bradley in 1997 with a B.A. in communications with minors in speech and theatre. Soon after Sénat graduated, she set out to re-found the Haitian American Lawyers Association of Illinois (HALA) alongside a group of other Haitian lawyers.
When HALA first started, Sénat could not run to be in office with HALA since she had previously worked for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite this, when she ran for office for the first time on Oct. 21, 2021, she got voted in for President. As President of HALA, Sénat wants to work toward three goals for the organization: advocacy, education and donations.
Marcellus Sommerville
Sommerville came to Bradley after a storied basketball career at Peoria High School, where he and former BU teammate Daniel Ruffin won state championships in 2003 and 2004. During his tenure with the Braves, Sommerville was a three-time All-MVC selection and his 1,493 points ranks 12th in team history.
The Peoria native was a member of the 2006 Braves team, which defeated No. 1-seeded Kansas on their way to a Cinderella run to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament before playing professionally. Presently, Sommerville still lives in, and is involved, with the Peoria community as the CEO of the Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service and establishing the Marcellus Sommerville Foundation and Next Generation Academy.
Marcus Pollard
Pollard came to Bradley after playing basketball for two years at a junior college and started in both of his upperclassmen seasons as a power forward for the Braves basketball team. Although the Bradley football program had been defunct for many years, Pollard joined the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 1995.
His NFL career spanned 13 years, during which he amassed 40 touchdowns and over 4,000 receiving yards, most coming from quarterback Peyton Manning. Pollard became the Director of Player Development for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013 and even competed in the 19th season of “The Amazing Race,” finishing in third place.
