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Daquarius Mahone’s PhD hooding ceremony was a festive multi-family affair with numerous supporters, including his grandparents. Even his church pastor and colleagues from the division were on hand to celebrate.

Two days before Mother’s Day, Mahone walked the stage thinking of the one precious family member who couldn’t be there — but her presence was deeply felt. His mother, Tara Mahone, was the inspiration and impetus behind Mahone’s completion of his third degree from UofL, a in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development.

“She, along with my father, did a phenomenal job raising me and my brothers, presenting opportunities to us and leading us,” said the Hopkinsville, Ky., native. “She was a living example from the beginning.” His mother’s model included investing time in their hometown leadership programs serving others in the community, which Mahone emulated with his own involvement in programs including Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Leadership and Upward Bound.

Mahone said he watched his mother earn two associate degrees and a bachelor’s degree despite undergoing dialysis for renal failure, all while raising three sons. Then, while Mahone was earning a degree at UofL, she was completing her own master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. “We had this fun back and forth on who would get the best grades each semester,” he said.

But in January 2021, Tara Mahone was unexpectedly diagnosed with Covid-19. Within three days, she was hospitalized, and only five days later, she passed away. “That cut me to the core,” he said. “It’s tough when the first person you lose is your mom.” Added to that pain was the fact that Daquarius’s mother passed just months before his wedding.

Making his journey count

Mahone said he knew early on that his own path would lead to UofL. When he first toured the campus with Upward Bound, a federally-funded college preparation program, he knew he was home.

“It felt really close knit, just big enough.” With financial assistance from a , Mahone entered UofL and completed his Bachelor of Science in Communication in 2017. A short while later, he became a university employee, working first as an administrative assistant and then program coordinator at the on campus while pursuing his master’s degree.

Mahone said it was his mom’s spiritual faith and love for serving youth that was his catalyst to pursue a PhD degree in 2022.

“I was looking through student development theories and how students overcome adversities,” Mahone explained. He studied the theory of community cultural wealth, which examines forms of “capital” students can use to succeed.

“When I think of my mom on dialysis and yet still getting a degree in community college, and being a wife, and raising sons who play sports, that’s aspirational capital.”

Mahone’s guiding principle is to impart future college students with a sense of belonging and inspiration around what they can contribute to society.

A rising tide

In 2024, Mahone got an opportunity to bring these theories to life when he became director of , a newly launched college readiness program at UofL. Designed to serve students in grades 8-12 and help bridge the educational divide for first-generation students, the program seeks to build a thriving college-going culture. Cardinals Rising held a reception in April to welcome its first 60-student cohort to campus.

“Our vision is a community where the talent and potential of all students is recognized and nurtured, and they contribute to the workforce of the city and state through collaboration and innovation,” he said.

Coming full circle

“The last thing my mother said to me while she was alive was ‘I am more than a conqueror,’” said Mahone, a Biblical reference to Romans 8:37. The passage assures believers they can transcend challenges and transform their lives.

Having overcome many hardships himself and achieving this most recent dream, Mahone is glad to help others do the same.

“And so that’s aspiration capital, spiritual capital, all coming alive,” Mahone said. “I am fortunate to be in a place where I have hope, and I feel that a great deposit was left for me and through me.”