Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #486

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Marijuana Pepsi Refused To Change Her Name Earns Ph.D After Completing DissertationOn‘Black-Sounding’ Names
By The Black Detour Team,
Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck recently graduated from Wisconsin’s Cardinal Stritch University with a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education. Vandy ck mission was show the world that although she had a unique name she could still be an suc- cess in life.
Vandyck told the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, “People make such a big deal out of it, I couldn’t get away from it.”
Marijuana Pepsi is the scholar’s maiden name and Vandyck was added when she got married in 2017. The 46- year-old grew up between
Chicago, Illinois, and Beloit, Wisconsin said in the past she used to question why her mother gave her such an odd name (her sisters are named Kimberly and Robin).
“It makes it diffi- cult sometimes,”
Vandyck previ- ously told TODAY.
Vandyck currently lives on a farm with her family and runs a per- formance coach- ing
company. Additio nally she has started an annual scholarship
award for Black students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater.
However, her life hasn’t always been smooth Vandyck says she was often teased growing up and dreaded
when teachers would call her name during roll call.
“Every single class, the teacher is taking atten- dance out loud, and as they slow- ly get down through the J’s, I’m just like here it comes.
‘Marianna? Mariju ana?’ And all the students turn to see who it is,” she recalled.
Vandyck used these real life occurrences in her thesis on “Black names in white classrooms: Teacher behav- iors and student perceptions.”
In her dissertation she spoke with other Black stu- dents who had unique names and allowed them to open up about those moments when teachers wouldn’t be able to correctly pro- nounce their names or pause during roll call.
Now Dr. Marijuana Pepsi is proud to be called by her name. “I’ve grown into my name because I am a strong woman,” she told TODAY. “I’ve had to be.”
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