A Promise Kept: William Erik Tonnessen's 28-Year Journey to the Commencement Stage

As a non-traditional student at Coppin State University, William Erik Tonnessen returned to campus after a 24-year absence to keep a promise he made before his mother's passing. 

William Erik Tonnessen  

Major: Entertainment Management  

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland 

For William Erik Tonnessen, returning to college was never simply about earning a degree. It was about keeping a promise. 

As a non-traditional student at Coppin State University, Tonnessen arrived back on campus in 2022 with a clear sense of purpose: to honor a vow he made to his mother before her passing, to complete the degree he set aside in 1998, and to prove to himself that the journey he had started as a young man would not be left unfinished. 

That promise became central to his experience at Coppin. 

As an Entertainment Management major, Tonnessen distinguished himself academically while balancing the responsibilities and challenges that often come with returning to higher education later in life. He earned a place on the Spring 2025 Dean's List and continues to serve as a Lieutenant with the Baltimore City Fire Department, where he has worked for 18 years. 

But some of the most meaningful parts of his return have unfolded outside the traditional path. 

Tonnessen first arrived at Coppin in 1994 as a recruited member of the baseball program, a Randallstown High School graduate looking to stay close to home. He flourished during that first year, rising from a high school transcript with no grade higher than a C+ to a place on the Honor Roll and the Dean's List. Then, in 1998, life pulled him in a different direction, and he stepped away from the University with a promise to his mother that he would one day return and finish what he had started. 

When she passed away in 2020, Tonnessen committed himself to keeping his word. Two years later, with the help of Professor Morrison-Santiago, who guided him through the re-enrollment process and his transition into the Entertainment Management program after his original curriculum had been discontinued, he was officially back at Coppin. 

"Graduating fulfills a promise I made to my mother 28 years ago," Tonnessen says. "This has been a long journey, and walking across that stage is a final quest completed for both her and myself." 

As he continued his studies, Tonnessen found that the supportive environment at Coppin reinforced the sense of community he had carried with him for nearly three decades. 

"Coppin State is an incredible, affordable HBCU that has grown immensely since 1994," he says. "It offers small class sizes and a true sense of family among the students and staff. It is a university on the rise, and it is no longer a 'best-kept secret.'" 

After graduation, Tonnessen plans to continue his career with the Baltimore City Fire Department for another three to five years before considering his next chapter. He hopes his story will encourage other students, particularly those who have paused their education, to find their way back to the classroom. 

For Tonnessen, graduation is both the closing of a long chapter and the keeping of a long-held word. 

"Stay the path and finish," he says. "Even if you feel you need a break, try to stay enrolled, even if only part-time. Don't take a semester off. Keep moving forward until you reach the end.