Class of 2007

Brian C. recently graduated from the University of Chicago. This summer he began a full-time position as a Paralegal with Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in Washington, DC.  Last summer he worked at Choate Rosemary Hall as a teaching intern for the English Language Institute. He taught English Literature to international students from over 10 different countries, while learning how to manage a classroom, create lesson plans and curricula.  While a student, he was involved with National Coaching Fellows, was the manager of the Student Leadership Team, was involved with the Organization of Black Students, served as the Editor in Chief of Blacklight Literary Magazine and was the Public Relations Director of the CCIJ Editorial Team. 

Kashay S. is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Women & Gender Studies with a focus on Gender, Language and Power. This summer she received the IDEX Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship and is conducting research on education and entrepreneurship in India. Last summer she interned at the Feminist Majority Foundation, which is a gender policy organization in DC and received funding from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy internship fund.  This semester she is taking two Gender Studies Classes and a Linguistics Course.  While on campus, she was the Women's Programming Intern for the Center for Women & Gender, was on the Research Committee of the Student and Presidential Committee for Sexual Assault, served on the Steering Committee for a program called Link Up, and is in Palaeopitus Senior Society.  The group brings together 20 of the College's most notable leaders to serve as an advisory board to the President and Dean of the College.  She also participated in Rockefeller Leadership Fellows, a program which instills 20 selected seniors with leadership skills.  In the future she wishes to get a degree in either International Affairs or an MPP with a focus on Global Policy.

Mariana S. graduated from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College with a degree in Psychology. Last summer, she interned at Dr. Harding's Psychoneuroimmunology Laboratory at Hunter College. In the lab, they investigated the effects of mold spores in behavioral and cognitive brain functions in mice. She is still working at Dr. Harding's lab as a manager in charge of overseeing and performing all the behavioral tests. Dr. Harding is her mentor, helped her on her honors thesis on the effects of mold spores in contextual fear conditioning. During her final semester, she was also a Teaching Assistant for Prof. Callender in her Statistical Methods in Psychology class. As part of her duties, she graded class homework and tutors students in statistics in the Statistic Help Center. Her plans for the future are to attend graduate school in clinical psychology. She is applying to PhD programs at Fordham University, Drexel University, Ryerson University and the University of British Columbia.

Class of 2008

John G. is a graduate of Cornell University and majored in Hotel Management. This summer, he served as an intern with Restaurant Associates, a premiere hospitality company based in New York City. Last summer he worked at Taverna Banfi at the Statler Hotel in Ithaca. He was promoted to Wine Bartender and Front Waiter and continues to work two shifts in the Fall Semester primarily as Wine Bartender.  On campus, John is involved with Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc as the Treasurer and Fundraising Chair, Quisqueya (Dominican Student Association) as the Treasurer, and serves as the Co-Director of Fundraising for the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH).  During the Spring semester, John studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain.

Choyce M. is a graduate of Goucher College with a degree in Communications and a minor in Women’s Studies.  During summer 2011, she interned for her second year with Time Warner, Inc, with HBO’s East Coast Productions.   Last summer Choyce was an intern in the documentary department at HBO.  Her main responsibilities included watching documentary films sent in to HBO and writing coverage for the vice presidents of the department.  She worked with the public relations department on a weekly basis in setting up screening premieres.  She also worked on a marketing campaign geared towards the college demographic for the second season of the HBO series East Bound and Down. She was able to learn many valuable skills and got hands on experience in the field of television and film. The highlight of her internship was seeing the finished results of something that she had a part in working on finally hit the television screen.  Last semester she served on the executive board of Umoja, and HOLA!  In both organizations she serves as the External Public Relations representative. She is also heading the African American Film Festival this year on her campus. Last but not least, she serves as a student representative for diversity initiatives at Goucher. This Fall semester Choyce will be studying abroad in London.  

Class of 2009

Jorell D. is a senior at Trinity College on the pre-medicine track.  During the summer he stayed on campus and worked with the facilities department.  He is the social chair of the La Voz Latina (the Latino student union on campus), he is a member of the Shondaa step team, and he is also a P.R.I.D.E. leader (Promoting Respect for Inclusive Diversity in Education). 

Zalika M. is a senior at Bowdoin College and is considering majoring in Africana Studies and possibly getting a minor in Dance, Visual Arts, or French. This summer, she worked at Black Enterprise as an intern for its Media Relations Department. Last summer, Zalika interned at a small nonprofit organization called Difrent, which aspires to promote global peace through music.  She was the Event Planning intern but performed many duties such researching potential corporate sponsors, developing relationships with prospective funders, and promoting general outreach.   Also, she worked as a Clerical Intern with the Caribbean American Center of New York where she drafted and edited press releases.  The highlight of her summer was being able to attend the Reception at Gracie Mansion, the kick-off to the West Indian Day Parade.  She is the Secretary of African American Society and Captain of Unity Step Team.   
 
Bryan V. is a senior at Syracuse University, where he is pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering.  Last summer he spent most of his time working at a lounge and then went to work at a restaurant in order to save money for college. He has made some good friends in his residence hall, and has attended a couple of events organized by the Greek fraternity, Phiota. 

Class of 2010   

Camille A. is a junior at Clark University and is contemplating declaring a major in Psychology.  She is involved in three groups:  she is the President in the Residence Hall Association for Dodd Hall (the group cultivates community among the residence of the Hall).  She is an active member of Sisters in Stride-a group dedicated to tackling issues pertinent to women of color such as sexism, academics, and career opportunities.
  
Tory F. is a junior at New York University, and reports loving every minute of it.  He has made many friends and is “more popular in college than [he] ever was in high school”.  As far as his campus involvement, he is a member of a group called GQ (Gentleman of Quality) which aims to unify men of color on campus. They organize events on campus like parties and concerts and use the money that they raise to give to schools in the inner city, for example, elementary schools in Brooklyn and the South Bronx.  While initially starting on the pre-med track, Tory has decided that he will be declaring his major in Political Science.
 
Manuel P. is a junior at Babson College with an interest in nonprofit work.   On campus, he is involved with two clubs: HOLA, an organization that brings Latino awareness to campus, and the Culinary Club. 

Class of 2011

Eniola A. is a sophomore at SUNY – Oswego. Eniola wrote to us about her first few weeks of college: “I am enjoying college immensely.  I am aware that it is just the second week of classes and I might be getting ahead of myself, but I have just had my first two quizzes and feel very confident about them. I love my dorm and my roommate. My roommate and I actually live in one of the smaller dorms, but we have a corner room so our room is bigger than the others. We have turned our room into a “pink paradise” and is already a hangout spot for our friends.  There are so many different races of people here that I did not expect to see because of how far we were up north. There is also a large population of Africans, which is great because I’m learning so much about different parts of Africa that I never even heard of.  We have organizations for every minority group in our school, including Africans, Caribbean’s, Asians and even Native Americans. The groups all have a huge week of events known as ALANA week and it all rounds off with a fashion show at the end of the week in which all the organizations showcase something. With all the organizations, the friendly people, and the amazing classes, this school is more than a dream come true and I’m more than thankful to be here”.

Tommy A. is a sophomore at Lafayette College.  Tommy sent us a brief update of his college experience so far: “When I got here, I was alone because it was a few days before orientation. I had joined the pep band and was in band camp learning a brand new instrument. During orientation, I met a lot of people and I got to see the people from POSSE again. My orientation experience was great because I went to everything, but then hurricane Irene caused a tree to fall on the power generators, so classes got cancelled for a day because of no power. When classes actually started, there was no rest, but it's going great so far! I'm finally getting control of my classes and talking to professors to see what kind of extra practice and studying I can do to help my learning”.

Kristin C. is a sophomore at Wheaton College and says it has a great academic atmosphere where she is being challenged in all her courses. The courses that she is enrolled in this semester are Sociology, Philosophy, Freshman Seminar, and English. In her freshman seminar they will volunteer at a nursery school and participating in other fieldwork observations. She is currently thinking about majoring in Sociology and double minoring in Philosophy and Psychology. Kristin had quite an adventure with her orientation. She reports, “my orientation was a disaster, because Hurricane Irene disrupted the second half of orientation and delayed the start of classes. The campus lost power for a few days and I had to return to New York. It was a great experience otherwise; my orientation will be one to remember. My roommate situation is awesome; we were friends before we arrived on campus. We met in Argentina last summer through the same travel abroad program, The Experiment in International Living. Having my POSSE with me on campus is quite beneficial as well; we have had many small gatherings outside of our POSSE meetings with our on-campus mentor. I am currently interested in a few clubs Black Student Association, Distinguished Women of Color Collective, and possibly an a cappella group named The Wheatones”.

Shyann R. incoming sophomore at Fordham University.

Class of 2012 (Updates Coming Soon!)

Jose F. is a freshman at Muhlenberg College.

Chad S. is a freshman at Syracuse University.

Natalie Y. is a freshman at DePauw University.

Jamaar W. is a freshman at DePauw University.