Whitney “Whitty” Ransome Scholarship Recipients

Academic Program

Scholarship

The Whitney “Whitty” Ransome Scholarship in African American and African Diaspora Studies was established in Fall 2013. It provides a merit scholarship to full-time undergraduate African American and African Diaspora Studies majors with exemplary academic performance. Awards are made by the AADS Scholarships Committee.

Spring 2016

Haillee A. Mason is a rising junior from Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, and a triple major in African American and African Diaspora Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Global Human Rights. She is a member of UNCG’s Golden Chain Honor Society and of the National Student Advisory Board of the American Association of University Women. Haillee was invited to be a University Marshal and was selected to intern, this summer, with the Poverty Research fund of UNC’s School of Law. Haillee hopes to pursue a career in either immigration, civil rights, or international human rights law after securing a graduate education in postcolonial theory and human rights discourses. The AADS Program congratulates Haillee A. Mason on her exceptional accomplishments as an undergraduate, a UNCG student, and, of course as an extraordinary African American and African Diaspora Studies major.

Spring 2015

Kiana Daniel is a Rising Senior majoring in African American and African Diaspora Studies and minoring in Media Studies. She is an honors student in the Lloyd International Honors College of UNCG, who recently completed a semester abroad in the United Kingdom. Ms. Daniel is a two-time winner of the Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Competition, and earned a Leadership Award at Girls State, a program in which young women learn about government. Ms. Daniel was nominated for the People to People Student Ambassador Program, The National Student Leadership Conference, and Congressional Student Leadership Conference. She also serves as the Secretary of Anointed Christian Teens Standing, and sponsored her own Red Cross Blood Drive for her church. She is also part of the Neo-Black Society and SIASA. She plans to use her degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies within the field of research in Media Studies to provide people with a better understanding of peoples of the African Diaspora and their history. She says of her aspirations, “By teaching the past, you gain knowledge of the future. What better time to change it for the better than the present?”

Fall 2014

Astrid Hacker is a senior double majoring in English and African American and African Diaspora Studies with a minor in American Sign Language. She has been a Dean’s list recipient as well as a Louis & Sam Adams Scholarship recipient. She has been a part of UNCG’s chapter of the NAACP and a member of the AADS Club. She has also worked as a Peer Academic Leader, Spartan Guide, Resident Advisor and news writer for The Carolinian (UNCG’s Campus Newspaper). Her future career goals include becoming an established author and working as a magazine journalist in which she hopes to report on positive images of people of color.

Spring 2014

Nique V. Williams was the President of the African American Studies Club, an African American Studies Ambassador, a Student Alumni Ambassador, the Community Service Coordinator for the Black Business Student Association, and has participated in the LeaderShape Institute. Ms. Williams graduated in May of 2014. She has also been on the Dean’s List during Fall 2011 and 2012. She received the Bronze and Silver Medallions for the Leadership Challenge. Ms. Williams aspires to become an attorney, and is enrolled at North Carolina Central University. She says, “My experience as an AFS major has enabled me to be a voice for underrepresented populations and I intend to be the help they need.” Her supervisor in the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning said of her, “Nique has displayed a strong work ethic, commitment to learning, and a deep understanding of people different from her.“

Stephanie A. Walton was the President of UNCG’s campus Activities board, served as the 2nd Vice President and Historian of UNCG’s Neo-Black Society, and was inducted into Lambda Pi Eta Communication Studies Honor Society in Fall 2013. This UNCG Homecoming Queen participated in the LeaderShape Institute and received the Emerging Leader Award at UNCG in April 2013. She was also promoted to the Monitor Position of the Annual Giving Office at UNCG. Off-Campus she received Win Win Resolutions Ladies Organized To Serve Others Program Volunteer Participation Award in 2011. She has also been on the Dean’s List in Fall 2010, and Chancellor’s List in Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, and Fall 2013. Ms. Walton aspires to create her own talk show that will promote positive African American images in the media. “The show will be called ‘On a Positive Note,’ and hopefully with my education gained from this institution and my future graduate school studies, I will be able to make this dream a reality.” She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Communication Studies at UNCG.