Clifford Cassis is a senior at Syracuse University and this semester is studying First Amendment rights as it pertains to journalists. During summer 2009, Clifford worked for the editorial department at Home & Garden Television where he produced web-video segments for FrontDoor.com, geared to first-time home buyers.  On campus, he is the Operations Manager for CitrusTV (the nation’s oldest and largest student-run TV station) and is the Technical Director for the Citrus TV Noticias en Espanol, a weekly Spanish news show.  Last spring, Clifford studied in London for five months and particularly enjoyed courses in British Comedy for TV & Film and Art History.  Clifford has recently submitted employment applications for the General Electric Leadership Development Program, and for an Account Coordinator position in the Sales Development Program of News America Marketing.

Queen Golder is a senior at Bard College majoring in Anthropology and Creative Writing. Last summer she interned at SOBRO (South Bronx Overall Development Corporation) in their Credit INC program.  Queen is currently studying the Origins of the American Citizen, Domesticity and Power, and Travel and Tourism.  She continues as the president of the Hindu Students Organization where she plans and coordinates events. Queen was elected to be on the Planning Committee of the Bard student government to help determine how the convocation fund is divided among all the student clubs.  Queen participated in an intensive language program during her sophomore summer in France.  She plans to gain work experience for a year prior to applying for graduate programs in communications and/or fashion journalism.

Geraldine Then is a senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology.  Last summer she was enrolled in Latin American and Caribbean Civilization: Narrating History, Slavery, & Sexuality, which focused on surveying the economic and social history of slavery and the Afro-American experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  This year, Geraldine is studying Historical Archaeology, Race and Racism, World Civilization, and Heritage of the Hispanic Antilles. Her favorite course is Race and Racism, not only because she is an anthropology major but because the course has expanded her knowledge and led her to gain a much deeper realistic understanding of the topics.  She is a member of the Anthropology Major group at school and has been working to increase participation in order to secure funding for group events.

Brian Clarke a junior at the University of Chicago.  During summer 2009, he worked at the Mikva Challenge as a supervisor. Mikva Challenge’s work is focused on helping youth take political action now in order to develop the next generation of civic leaders. He oversaw over 35 internships in local elected officials offices in the city of Chicago and he taught high school juniors and seniors lobbying techniques and political action methods.  During periods in New York, he worked as a field organizer on the Mark Winston Griffith City Council campaign.  He found this to be deeply meaningful, reinforcing his belief in the importance of voting, political action and the power the average citizen can have to influence positive change.  Brian is currently studying abroad in India and taking South Asian Civilization classes, which includes a class on Hindi and Buddhist literature and Indian History.  The semester includes a three-week excursion to ancient temples and sites in India.   Brian is also Assistant Editor and a featured writer of www.Blacklightmag.com, documenting his trip through India.

Kashay Sanders is a junior at Dartmouth College. During summer 2009 she participated in Dartmouth's Sophomore Summer, a time when only sophomores are on campus and they begin to take on leadership roles for the first time.  Currently, Kashay is in Belize volunteering for the Cornerstone Foundation, which advocates for children’s and women’s rights. She is the women's issues volunteer and is  coordinating a weekly women's group, creating a community-service based group for high school girls and organizing events for "Sixteen Days of Activism".  She is involved in a mentoring program at Dartmouth for girls.  Over the summer, she participated in SEAD (Student Enrichment at Dartmouth) when the college invites high school students from underprivileged backgrounds to the school.  She also organizes WGS-Tea (Women and Gender Studies Tea) -- a forum for students to hear speakers or discuss topics related to gender.  She is co-chair of the Diversity and Community Affairs Committee. 

Mariana Sant’anna is currently a junior at the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY - Hunter College. Macaulay offers academically gifted students an exceptional undergraduate education, integrating the vast resources of the City University with New York's cultural, scientific, and business communities.  Mariana is a psychology major and is taking Abnormal Psychology and Statistical Methods in Psychology, along with French and Forensics Biology. This semester she joined the Psychology Club and for next semester, she plans to apply to the Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, founded for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology.

Viridiana Garnica has been inactive with the SEO College Scholars Program since last year. Numerous and repeated attempts to contact her have been unsuccessful.  Because she is an undocumented alien, her college will not release her transcripts so that we can track her progress.  She received the Golkin Scholarship payment for the fall 2008 semester only.

John Gutierrez is a sophomore at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration - the first collegiate program in hospitality management, regarded as a world leader in its field.  Students learn from 60 full-time faculty members - all experts in their chosen disciplines, and all dedicated to teaching, research and service.  John is currently enrolled in finance, statistics, marketing and information systems courses. He is also the treasurer for the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity and for Quisqueya, the Dominican Students Association.  Quisqueya sponsors and participates in informative and social events that aid in addressing issues concerning Dominicans and other Latinos. John is helping to organizing Quisqueya’s fourth annual Dominican Conference at Cornell.  He hopes to study in Spain in Spring 2011. 

Choyce Miller is a sophomore majoring in Communications at Goucher College, where through internships, community service, and study abroad students engage the world as true global citizens.  Last summer she interned for eight weeks at the non-profit organization Visions Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. She found her work with visually-impaired individuals to be very gratifying. At Goucher, Choyce is currently enrolled in Women Studies Law and Policy, Introduction to Popular Culture and English.  She volunteers as the External Public Relations Officer of Umoja, the Black Student Union on her campus. She is also a Connections Peer Facilitator to first year Goucher students to help them adjust to college life. Goucher provides abundant opportunities for hands-on study abroad experiences.   Choyce looks forward to working with her college advisors on an appropriate travel abroad experience.

Jorrell Diaz is a freshman at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.  Trinity’s First-Year Program is designed to balance the academic and community life of all new students. The program includes intellectually challenging seminars, faculty advisers, mentors and other academic resources designed to help new students make a successful transition to a life-long habit of learning.  He is currently taking Calculus, English and African-American History. Jorrell is a member of the Hispanic Cultural Organization “La Voz Latina” (the Latin voice), and a member of Trinity College’s Shonda step team. He is planning to study abroad but because of other scholarship commitments, he must wait until his junior year to participate. At that time, he hopes to travel to Ghana, Egypt, Botswana or South Africa.  Last summer, Jorrell interned at the Office of Congressman Charles B. Rangel where he was a translator for Spanish-speaking constituents.  He found this particularly rewarding because he was able to ensure that the constituents were aware of all available resources needed to deal with government issues. 

Zalika May is a freshman at Bowdoin College in Maine, an undergraduate liberal arts institution founded in 1794. Zalika reports that she is very happy on campus and finds that everyone is welcoming and open-minded so it eases the intimidation that comes with entering college.  Her greatest challenge has been speaking in public because she is very shy, but has been making an effort to speak at least once a week for each class.  She is very interested in media communications and is considering a career in that field.  She has joined the Unity Step Team and the African-American Society.  She is also a Bowdoin College host for prospective students visiting campus.  This semester she is taking History of Film, Seeking a Historical Jesus and Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies. Her favorite class is Intro to Gender and Women's Studies because it is fascinating to learn about how society's gender expectations for men and women were shaped and also how they have changed over time.

Bryan Vargas is not enrolled in college in fall 2009.  He will begin his Civil Engineering major at Syracuse University in January 2010. Due to challenges with his financial aid package and family responsibilities, Bryan was unable this semester. During this time prior to enrollment, Bryan has been learning about the engineering field and has made plans to shadow a professional engineer working on the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.