Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez has introduced the idea for a new nationwide bill that would guarantee posthumous degrees to college students who pass away before completing their required coursework.
Velázquez designed the bill to resemble New York State’s recently enacted Mel’s Law, the legislation named in honor of Melquain (Mel) Jatelle Anderson, a former John Jay College of Criminal Justice student who was shot to death near Downtown Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses.
Though Mel’s life was cut short, his mother, Michelle Barnes-Anderson, and his aunts, Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes and Khadedra Miller, fought to create legislation to honor his legacy.
“This Wednesday, on National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims, I will be introducing federal legislation modeled after New York’s Mel’s Law,” Rep. Velázquez said at a press conference in Downtown Brooklyn. She stood accompanied by local elected officials Senator Jabari Brisport, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, and members of anti-gun violence groups. Velázquez explained that the new federal version of Mel’s Law will require colleges and universities that receive federal funding to have an established policy for awarding posthumous degrees to students who pass away before completing their required coursework.
In New York state, Mel’s Law was introduced by Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest and Senator Jabari Brisport and signed into law in 2023 by Governor Kathy Hochul. The law requires SUNY and CUNY schools to have an established posthumous degree policy.
The murder of Melquain (Mel) Jatelle Anderson on Oct. 25, 2017, is still a haunting moment. The young John Jay College of Criminal Justice student was shot to death by a stranger near Downtown Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses. The 27-year-old Melquain was Barnes-Anderson’s only child. After his murder, she and her sisters created the Melquain Jatelle Anderson Foundation (MJAF), a nonprofit that provides emotional and financial support to families who have suffered from gun violence.
“As a survivor, as a mother of a forever 27 year old, I just want to say I stand here and I feel like I’m standing for a thousand mothers,” Barnes-Anderson told those in attendance at the press conference.
“The day that I woke up and I went to go get his degree, I just heard a song singing,” she said. “It felt so good, and I thought, other mothers should have that — they have to have that because we should not have to look at the death certificate [of our child], we need to look at their degree because that’s their legacy. Their legacy is supposed to be there for their family, for their children, for their descendants to follow.”
The federal version of Mel’s Law will require all colleges and universities that receive federal funding to create a standard procedure for awarding posthumous degrees.
“If this deal is enacted into law,” Rep. Velázquez said, “we can provide thousands of grieving American families some solace and cement the legacies of young people whose lives were tragically cut short. I believe this is the least the federal government can do for families that have suffered so much. After all, it has been the federal government –– and the U.S. Congress –– that have failed so many people in this country.”