{"id":77072,"date":"2023-06-23T14:09:28","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T18:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/?p=77072"},"modified":"2024-01-31T14:38:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T19:38:06","slug":"record-number-of-students-receive-black-scholar-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/record-number-of-students-receive-black-scholar-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Record Number of Students Receive Black Scholar Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thirty-four students received Black Scholar<\/a> and Onyx Society awards recently, said Dr. Chris Hunter<\/a>, interim Dean of University College and chair of the event. Hunter says the awards recognize a blend of academic scholarship as well as community service. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see what students do to contribute to the University of Rhode Island community as they go through their education,\u201d Hunter said. In addition, the awards program recognizes the members of the Rhode Island Onyx Senior Honor Society. Its annual induction ceremony honors graduating seniors of African descent who achieve 3.30 or higher grade point averages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The awards program has been in existence since 1998. Hunter said the idea of recognizing Black scholars had been a topic of conversation among faculty members for some time. \u201cWe wanted to recognize our Black scholars, and we decided it was time to do something about that. We continue to try to improve what we\u2019re doing on the campus to make sure that people feel like they all belong. I think we\u2019ve made really great movement as a university in the 26 years that I\u2019ve been here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Watson, Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion<\/a> from the College of Engineering has mentored several students who were honored at the awards and sees his involvement as a resource for the students. \u201cYou are there so students can check in, just making sure they have what they need, and if they need something, they know they have an office that they can go to that\u2019s going to support their needs,\u201d Watson said. \u201cYou\u2019re just proud of how hard they\u2019ve worked in their journey, watching them achieve, watching them be acknowledged through the Black Scholar Awards. They not only represent a culture, but they represent themselves, their institution, the high quality of academic learning, achievement, and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen many students achieve, but it\u2019s a proud, proud moment when you know there are students that you have direct influences on and can see them continue to grow in their professional lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Siena Negash<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One such student is Siena Nagash<\/a>, a recent Biomedical Engineering graduate who will be heading to Perdue University to pursue a master\u2019s and PhD. \u201cShe\u2019s royalty to me,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI started mentoring her during her sophomore year, and I watched her grow into not only the Black woman she\u2019s become, but I\u2019ve seen her grow into a leadership role.\u201d Watson said she started her community involvement as secretary for the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) URI Chapter, and she later would become president of the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy particular award focused on my outreach in the Black community here at URI,\u201d Nagash said. \u201cI was involved with the NSBE and also helped form the Black and Brown Women in Engineering, Science, Technology Sisterhood (BBWESTS), and other organizations on campus.\u201d Nagash said one of her main challenges in working with these organizations came from Covid. \u201cThere was a lot of checking in on Zoom, because that was the best we could do. We were making sure everyone was good and providing tutoring if needed. But basically it was just about supporting each other.\u201d
The nomination came as a surprise for Nagash. \u201cI saw an email saying I was nominated. I didn\u2019t think I was really deserving of one. I had no idea that was going to happen. Getting the award was really an inspiration for me. It will motivate me in the future. Next year when I\u2019m at Purdue I intend to stay involved and provide guidance and mentorship to undergraduates at the university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse Duroha\u2019s<\/a> journey is different than his co-winners. Born and raised in Nigeria, Duroha entered college in West Virginia University at 16 years old. He later moved on to the University of Pittsburgh for his master\u2019s degree.  Watson says that Duroha\u2019s work is important both for the engineering profession and for being an example to others. \u201cA PhD in his field is really exciting, especially for our black male population, to see a young man who has grown and has been very successful,\u201d Watson said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jesse Duroha<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jesse Duroha is currently finishing his PhD in industrial and systems engineering, and his research lab is looking at the human factor of engineering systems. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at how humans interact with these systems, and how we can design systems to support the person using them,\u201d Duroha said. He\u2019s hoping to defend his dissertation in August. \u201cIt\u2019s a real honor to be recognized as a Black Scholar, and I’m just so grateful,\u201d Duroha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the requirements of the Scholar program is demonstrating leadership qualities. Duroha points to his work mentoring undergraduate students as one way he was a leader. He also spent time coordinating outreach events for students K-12 that would inspire kids to learn more about engineering and STEM. In what little spare time he has, Duroha likes to play and watch soccer. He\u2019s also a musician who sings, plays guitar, and writes his own songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kassia Almeida<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kassia Almeida\u2019s<\/a> academic career has been one of adventure. Not many students can say they interned at the world-famous Tiffany\u2019s jewelry company, earned a BS in industrial engineering, and will be utilizing her upcoming BA in Spanish (one of the four languages she speaks) during this fall\u2019s study abroad year in Spain. That\u2019s part of the reason she was inducted into the Onyx Honor Society. \u201cIt felt great to have my hard work, and that of other students of color be acknowledged,\u201d Almeida said. \u201cMy only regret is that I wasn’t inducted sooner. They didn\u2019t have an honor society that began in freshman year. It would have been a great chance to bond with the other members of the honor society. It would have provided a great chance to network and to have a support system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almeida will study at the University of Zaragoza, in the northeast region of Spain. \u201cI\u2019ll spend one semester at the University, and then the second semester will require me to do an internship with a company. There are three that I\u2019m looking at right now, and I\u2019ll make my final decision when I\u2019m there.\u201d
Chuck Watson sees his students, like these three, as his bosses, with his role as a facilitator in their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI put myself in the front,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI tell the students \u2018Listen. Tell me where you want to go, how far you want to go\u2019, and it’s my job to plow the road free of obstacles. I want to make sure their paths are free and clear so they can achieve the highest of their dreams. My job is to help them get where they want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story by Hugh Markey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-four students received Black Scholar and Onyx Society awards recently, said Dr. Chris Hunter, interim Dean of University College and chair of the event. Hunter says the awards recognize a blend of academic scholarship as well as community service. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see what students do to contribute to the University of Rhode Island community […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4861,"featured_media":77073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78215,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77072\/revisions\/78215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mcise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}