Row: Dava Hankerson Fedrick, Ashley
Carter Top Row: Aria Smith, Kenneth
Johnson.
Florida State University students and leaders played a prominent role in the 27th annual National Black Graduate Student Association (NBGSA) Conference April 8-12 in Jacksonville, Fla.
FSU students took home prizes in poster competitions, and were elected to national and regional positions within the NBGSA executive board.
Several FSU students served at the national level for this year’s conference, “Global Impact: Expanding Horizons Bridging the Gap between Academia and the Community.”
Dava Hankerson Fedrick, a doctoral candidate in education policy and evaluation, served as the vice president of conference affairs; Aria Smith, a graduate student in scientific computing and social chair for the FSU Black Graduate Student Association, was a member of the conference committee; and Ashley Carter, a doctoral candidate in nutrition science was selected to serve as a National Conference Fellow and assisted with the conference logistics.
During the conference, the NBGSA elected three FSU students to national and regional positions. Smith was elected to serve as the vice president of administrative affairs, and Kenneth Johnson, a graduate student in English, and Genevieve Bell, a doctoral student in neuroscience and president of the FSU Black Graduate Student Association, were elected as the Southeast Regional representatives to recruit new members and affiliate chapters at colleges and universities in the southeast region of the United States.
Paper and poster competitions provided additional opportunities for FSU students to present scholarly and innovative work at the national level. Bell and Carter received first and third place, respectively, in the poster competition.
Founded in 1989, the mission of the NBGSA Conference was to provide an opportunity for African-American students to develop professionally. Since the conference was founded, it has given African-American students the chance to partake in presentations, professional workshops, and roundtable discussions. Students from all across the United States have participated in the conference, as members of the NBGSA. The NBGSA is a 501(C)(3) non-profit interdisciplinary student led organization, enhancing the academic, professional, and social development of Black students in higher education. The NBGSA has actively recruited over 100,000 members across the United States and encourages members to participate in the NBGSA Conference.