Carol Maillard

After graduating from CUA, singer and activist Carol Lynn Maillard, B.A. 1973, wasted no time putting her Catholic education to work as she made her dreams a reality. This CUA alumna helped found Sweet Honey In The Rock, an a cappella ensemble the same year she graduated. In the 35 years since, this extraordinary African-American female vocal group has become a vital and innovative presence in the music culture of our nation's capital and beyond.

Maillard's career has been a marriage of her Catholic faith and her African American heritage. Each of these elements have shone brilliantly through her efforts with Sweet Honey in the Rock — a group that derives its name from Psalm 81:16, which speaks of the promise to a people of being fed by honey out of the rock. With co-founders Bernice Johnson Reagon, Louise Robinson and Mie, Maillard was a driving force in the formation of this group of African American women, who proudly boast a song repertoire steeped in the sacred music of the Black church, the clarion calls of the civil rights movement, and songs of the struggle for justice everywhere.

Maillard's Catholic roots have extended into a great number of her professional endeavors, as this CUA alumna has been involved in a number of religious projects both on stage and onscreen the world over during her three-decade-career. In 2000, Maillard co-wrote and co-produced the score/songs for "The Nativity," a music video for the American Bible Society.

It seems that the lessons learned as a student of music and drama in the CUA classroom have been well remembered in Maillard's professional career. When Sweet Honey in the Rock released their latest album ("Experience... 101"), the Washington Post hailed Maillard's ability as a songwriter, noting that the CUA alumna "has a doo-wop-like knack for lacing a tune and a beat so tightly together that the song stays in your head long after the disc stops spinning."