By Zafirios Daglaris |
January 17, 2020

Three students recently received scholarships from the Africana Studies program for the Fall 2019 and/or Spring 2020 semesters. Rachel Mungovan (pictured), received the UCF Africana Studies and Business Services Dining Stipend for Fall 2019-Spring 2020. The stipend is an all-access/seven-day dining meal plan stipend for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, valued at $3,960.

“Being in the Africana Studies minor coursework has shown me the interconnectedness of African history, culture, and traditions with the rest of the world,” Mungovan noted. Asked how the stipend has proved useful during her studies, Mungovan stated that “the meal plan stipend has helped me to be able to study and to eat without having to leave campus and stress about making it to my next engagement on time.”

Recipient, Joanna McPhail, received the John T. Washington Scholarship for Africana Studies Minors for the Spring 2020 semester for $500. “My hope in pursuing a minor in Africana studies is to acquire in-depth knowledge of my predecessors, their narratives, and theories that remain pertinent to being Black in society while retaining one’s sanity,” McPhail noted.

Asked about her future goals in the program, as well as her future personal and professional developments, McPhail went on to say that “a goal of mine is also to deepen my understanding of the systems which work against us in an effort to mitigate movement toward a better current state, as well as future for all Black people.”

Student veteran Luaine Ecien Lambey, received the John T. Washington Community Service Award for Africana Minors for the Spring 2020 semester for $250.

All three students will be honored at the 2020 John T. Washington Lecture Series. This lecture series upholds the legacy and continues the mission of the annual Dr. John T. Washington Community Service and Scholarship Awards Luncheon. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at the Teaching Academy, 117 with a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. and presentations and lecture starting at 6 p.m. Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California-Irvine School of Law will present “Overcoming Injustice: Why Women’s Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters”.