Student Achievements – Spring 2021
- History student Al Wheat received the best graduate student paper award for the state’s Phi Alpha Theta Conference and won the $1000 Margaret Walker Award at this year’s CASE Festival for the best paper on “The Black experience in the American South.”
- Journalism and Media studies undergraduates completed virtual and in-person internships this spring (25 of them!).
- The Sonic Boom of the South performed for the historic inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris; participated in the virtual concert celebrating the home entertainment release of Disney Pixar’s film Soul; participated in a pregame performance on NBATV’s first-ever HBCU basketball broadcast.
- The student run Blue & White Flash won 11 awards in the 2020-2021 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Mississippi Press Association during the O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference.
1st Place – General News Photo – Kalin Norman
1st Place – Graphic – Kalin Norman
2nd Place – Best Website – The Blue & White Flash
2nd Place – Best Layout & Design – The Blue & White Flash
2nd Place – Best Editorials – Darrius Barron & Cianna Hope Reeves
2nd Place – Best Front Page – The Blue White Flash
2nd Place – Best Use of Social Media
3rd Place – Best Cartoon – Jessica Knight
3rd Place – Best Feature Photo – Kalin Norman
3rd Place – Best Sports Photo – Kalin Norman
3rd Place – General Excellence – The Blue & White Flash - Music student Orel Lee’s orchestral composition, under the guidance of Dr. Ivan Elezovic was accepted to be read by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
- Music students Jailon Davis, Orel Lee, Jordan Scott, Regan Jackson, and Gavin Hughes were selected as interns with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School program in Jackson Public Schools as interns for the summer of 2021.
- The Department of Music is incredibly proud of Deshawn Goncalves, who was a finalist on American Idol!!
- Music student Christian Houghton was selected for the Honor’s Performance Series and will perform with the Young Adult Honors Wind Ensemble at the Weiner Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
- Political science student JaQuan Powell was selected as a 2020 Thurgood Marshall College Fund Fall Intern in 2020 with The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)—Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHS)—Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS).
- Political Science graduates are headed to law school! Javoris Draine was accepted into the Southern University Law School, Kaitlin Littlebury has been accepted into the Texas Southern Law School, and Abryana Marks has been accepted into the Howard University Law School.
- The following English majors are headed to graduate school and received awards.
- LaJada James, University of Mississippi for the Mississippi Teacher Corps graduate program
- Ashura Lewis to the University of Southern Mississippi for their doctoral program in creative writing.
- Kaelyn Conley was awarded the Common Cause Fellowship.
- Kyra Nealon received the Mothers Obtaining Justice and Opportunities education grant.
- Tykera Marrow, a student in the doctoral program in clinical psychology, is the first student from a Mississippi institution to be selected to participate in Health Policy Research Scholars, a leadership program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). She joins the program’s fourth cohort which includes 59 other doctoral students from various universities around the country. She will be given a monetary award.
- Michael Ramsey, a student in the doctoral program in clinical psychology, was awarded an F31 research grant by the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD).
- Wynette Williams-Kirkwood, a student in the doctoral program in clinical psychology, served as a journal reviewer and Student Commentator for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology’s Student Journal Club and a junior reviewer, for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology‘s Mentoring Program for Junior Reviewers.
- The following Doctoral Students were the Award Recipients at the Spring 2021 Psychology Research Symposium: First Place: Sreenath Panchagnula -Title: “Relationship between chronic illness and mental health in older adults”; Second Place: Ce’Ne Harris–Title: “Generational poverty, trauma and psychosocial well-being”; Third Place: Shaina McMillan–Title: “Perception of law enforcement officers by students attending a PWI’s and HBCU’s”; Best Presenter: Nathaniel Cox–Title: “Gender differences in depressive symptoms and social support in military families”. Most Innovative Research idea – Louisa Rygh–Title: “Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for pediatric oncology chemotherapy patients”.
- CeNe’ Harris, a 3rd year doctoral student, was awarded a mini-grant by Homeland Security, summer, 2020 for her involvement with the Center for Community Resiliency: Exploration of Emergency Weather in Mississippi.
- Khalil Collier, a 2nd year doctoral student, was awarded a NAVY Health Professions Scholarship.
- Nathaniel Cox, a 2nd year doctoral student, was awarded an ARMY Health Professions Scholarship
- Louisa Rygh, a 3rd year doctoral student, has been accepted into a 1-year externship in Health Psychology in Philadelphia, PA.