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Sonja Haynes Stone Center Announces 2019 Fellows

May 22, 2019
Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black History and Culture



The Stone Center has awarded two Sean Douglas Fellowships and six Undergraduate International Studies Fellowships (UISF) for 2019. The Sean Douglas Fellowships offers two students a semester-long paid research opportunity. They will work directly with our Director to develop meaningful leadership experiences on campus and in the surrounding communities. The 2019 Fellows are:

Ajani Anderson: Ajani Anderson is an arts history major from Durham, North Carolina, and a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts. She plans to use this fellowship to gain practical experience in giving a voice to marginalized groups in the cultivation, planning, and execution of exhibitions. She hopes that this experience will only increase her passion and commitment to elevating the important connection between art and social justice.

De’Ivyion Drew: De’Ivyion Drew is from Raleigh, North Carolina. As a Robertson Scholar, Drew attends both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University as a studio art and African, African American, and diaspora studies major with a minor in psychology. She plans to continue her arts education through global engagement opportunities before attaining an MFA and becoming a professional artist and curator.

The Undergraduate International Studies Fellowship (UISF) supports the participation of students of color and other underrepresented groups in travel and study abroad programs. To date, UISF has provided over $160,000 to UNC-Chapel Hill students studying abroad. This year, six students received funding:

Kerri Reid, Jacqueline Nkrumah, Asia Sellars, Lauren Graham
2019 Undergraduate International Studies Fellows, left to right: Kerri Reid, Jacqueline Nkrumah, Asia Sellars, Lauren Graham. Not pictured: Latesha Sharpe, Sakari Singleton

Lauren Graham: Lauren Graham is a sophomore from Durham, North Carolina, who is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration. This summer, she will be traveling to China to participate in the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s International Summer School Institute where she plans to take classes in marketing and international business. During her time at UNC, Lauren has been a member of the UNC Gymnastics team, Honors Carolina, the Institute of Politics, and the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Jacqueline Nkrumah: Jacqueline Nkrumah is rising junior psychology major on the pre-med track from Raleigh, North Carolina. Jacqueline will travel to London this summer to complete a psychology course for her major as well as enroll in a course taught by faculty at King’s College London. Through her program, she will be able to learn more about abnormal psychology in the context of British culture. Furthermore, she will be able to broaden her knowledge base about the British healthcare system and hopefully use that knowledge in her path to medicine to help improve the US healthcare system.

Kerri Reid: Kerri Reid is a rising senior from Fayetteville, North Carolina. She majors in Global Studies and Psychology. Kerri will travel to Salamanca, Spain to take an advanced Spanish language course as well as an art course. an effort to enhance her knowledge of the Spanish language and learn more about Spanish art. She aspires to become an occupational therapist for children and using her Spanish proficiency to help a wider demographic.

Asia Sellars: Asia Sellars is a junior from Burlington, North Carolina. She is a psychology major with a minor in women and gender studies. Asia will travel to Stockholm, Sweden to study gender, equality, and sexuality in Scandinavia in order to learn how gender equality manifests in Swedish culture, politics, and socioeconomics.

Latesha Sharpe: Latesha Sharpe is a third-year BSN student from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and a member of the 7th cohort of Hillman Scholars in Nursing Innovation. As a Hillman Scholar, she will further examine her research interests in intergenerational cardiometabolic disease and disparities in African American communities. Latesha will travel to Tanzania this summer to explore the impacts culture, nutrition and lifestyle have on cardiometabolic health in African communities and its applicability to African American populations in the United States to decrease cardiometabolic health disparities. She and an inter-professional team from UNC will provide health assessments, health education, and treatment to the citizens of Tanzania.

Sakari Singleton: Sakari Singleton is a junior Global Studies major with a minor in Hispanic Studies. She works with Outreach 360 on campus and with the local Refugee Support Center. Sakari plans to spend a semester in Sevilla, Spain, in an effort to become fluent in Spanish as well as further her Global Studies major to prepare for a career in foreign service and international affairs.


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