Aretha Swift
On Saturday, December 13, Aretha Swift’s “incomplete” list will be one major item shorter.
Swift, 65, of Abington, will receive her bachelor’s degree in general studies during IUP’s mid-year commencement ceremony—47 years after coming to IUP as a freshman.
“Completing my bachelor’s degree has always been at the top of my ‘incomplete’ list,” Swift said.
However, her life has been anything but “incomplete.”
She’s been a single mom to three children—two who have completed their own college degrees—her oldest daughter is a professor at James Madison University, her son is a West Chester University graduate working in the technology field, and her youngest daughter is completing a degree at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art.
She’s also had a long career in business and has worked for her church.
She’s survived living with chronic kidney disease—including one kidney transplant that failed and a second successful kidney transplant. Four years ago, she founded her own company, Swift Advocate LLC, to provide inspiration and hope about living with chronic kidney disease, following the theme of “ACTS”—Advocate Change To Survive.
What brought her back to IUP?
“I had a car accident in 2023 and ended up in the hospital. As I was in that hospital bed, I looked at my list of incompletes, and completing my bachelor’s degree was at the top of the list,” Swift said. “I made up my mind right then that I was going to call IUP, and I’ve been on the journey to my degree ever since,” she said.
“I had tried to finish my degree before at other colleges, but it just didn’t work. When I called IUP, I got Kristen O’Hara (IUP director of Workforce Development), who walked me through the process, encouraged me, and was just wonderful. Then, I got connected to Dr. Luke Faust (chairperson of the IUP Department of Student Affairs, Student Success, and Disability Access), and he has just been amazing. After working with them, I knew coming back to IUP was meant to be.
“All of my professors have embraced and encouraged me,” she said. “Everyone I’ve talked with—the Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid Office, bursar’s office, my navigator Sheila Gardner—everyone has just been remarkable, and that has sustained me through these past two years.”
She needed seven classes (21 credits) to complete her degree, and was able to complete the courses all remotely. She began classes (for the second time) in 2023, taking two classes per semester, not allowing her recent diagnosis of breast cancer to slow her down.
“I’ve had good jobs, jobs that I’ve enjoyed and that actually required degrees, but the companies that I’ve worked for focused on my skills and experience, rather than my lack of degree. But I’ve always wanted that degree,” she said.
Swift credits her work ethic and her resilience to her mother, her faith, and the support of her children.
“I am one of five children, raised by a single mom—she is 82 and still going strong—who raised her own brothers and sisters after her mother died working in the cotton fields,” Swift said. “Our mother taught us that you need to work for what you want, that no one is going to give you anything, you need to earn it,” she said. Her mother was an evangelist; her father was not involved with the family.
“I was born in Marvell, Arkansas, but my mother wanted a better life for us, so she moved us to Pennsylvania when I was young. I graduated from Norristown High School, got accepted to IUP, and while I wanted to be an actress and just go to California, my mother intervened, and I started at IUP in the summer of 1978.”
Swift said her experience at IUP was a very positive one, and she was active in pageants and theater productions. Then, in her junior year, she ran out of funds to continue at IUP.
She left IUP, moved to Houston, got married, and had children, but left that marriage when it became abusive. She found a job in the business office of a large oil company.
“I had worked in an office starting when I was 14 through the Montgomery County Neighborhood Youth Corp Program, so that gave me experience to secure that job—but I always wanted to get my degree,” she said.
While she’ll be starting treatments to fight her cancer, she’s also looking forward to continuing her speaking engagements through Swift Advocate LLC.
“Looking back on my journey, when I was young, I thought 65 was so old,” she said. “But that’s not the case. You never stop learning, education is lifelong, and if anyone out there thinks it’s too late to get your degree, that’s just not true. Don’t let age be a factor. The mind is a beautiful thing, and we never stop learning,” she said.
“Getting my degree was intimidating—especially technology that was new to me—but my professors were so kind and helpful, and there were many resources available to me at the university.
“My children also helped me—my family members are my cheerleaders, my three children have encouraged me, believed in me, and love me unconditionally. I’ve rested on that and the assurance that God loves me.”
IUP’s December 13 commencement ceremony will honor 459 graduates who have completed academic requirements for their degrees in December and January 2026.
The ceremony will be held at 9:00 a.m. at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.
The ceremonies will be broadcast live on the university’s YouTube channel; links to the broadcasts are available on the IUP Commencement website. After the event, the video recorded during the livestream will be available on the website. The webcast will begin 15 minutes before the actual start of the ceremony.
IUP President Michael Driscoll will preside over both ceremonies. All students participating in commencement ceremonies will be recognized by name and congratulated on stage.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025 and through the Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking to its next 150 years of student success, innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.