Natasha S. Alford graduated from the Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs with a master’s degree in public policy and a certificate in urban policy last month, and the accomplishment was made all the more special because she received her master’s hood from her three-year-old son — a moment that has now gone viral.
Alford posted the video to TikTok, showing the moment she approached the podium with her young son Julian in tow. Amaney A. Jamal, Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, then helped Julian place the hood over his mother.
@natashasalford When I took my 3-year-old son Julian onstage to see my master’s hooding, I did not realize Dean Jamal would ask if he wanted to help hood me. Of course everything I’ve been holding came to the surface because doing graduate school as a mother to a young child was a different kind of experience. When I was not studying, I was running back to him to play trucks and build towers with blocks. His father had to constantly push me to get on to class and not worry because all would be fine, and he was right. This was truly the best year for our family. Julian loved Princeton 🧡🖤, made many new tiger 🐯 cub friends and now has SPIA aunties and uncles around the world. ☺️🌍 Thank you Dean Jamal for the tradition of letting parents bring their children to celebrate this milestone. It’s a moment I will never forget and a moment I pray he looks to whenever he needs it. This is for you my dear son— you can achieve whatever has been placed in your heart and mind because greatness is already within you! 💙💙💙 #Legacy #SPIAProud2024 #Commencement #Graduation #princeton #SPIA #DoubleIvy #Degree3 #motherhood #parenting #mywhy #lupuswarrior ♬ original sound – Natasha S. Alford
“When I took my 3-year-old son Julian onstage to see my master’s hooding, I did not realize Dean Jamal would ask if he wanted to help hood me,” Alford captioned the post. “Of course everything I’ve been holding came to the surface because doing graduate school as a mother to a young child was a different kind of experience. When I was not studying, I was running back to him to play trucks and build towers with blocks.”
“His father had to constantly push me to get on to class and not worry because all would be fine, and he was right,” she added. “This was truly the best year for our family.”
Alford told Good Morning America that the moment was an emotional one for her.
“That moment, when he hooded me on stage, was so emotional because I’d been carrying all that anxiety of like, ‘Will I be able to get everything done? Will I cross this finish line?’ And so in that moment, I was finally crossing the finish line,” she said.
“I wanted people to see that mothers and sons – we have a special relationship,” she added. “But also mothers can be high achievers. They can have goals outside of the home, outside of motherhood and there’s room for all of that.”
Alford was also grateful to Dean Jamal for making the moment possible. “Thank you Dean Jamal for the tradition of letting parents bring their children to celebrate this milestone,” she said. “It’s a moment I will never forget.”
