2011 Cohort – Page 2 – Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Associate Director & Manager of Programs Update, March 2023

Dear IRT Community,

As IRT enters the Spring season, we are continuing to advise scholars as they manage their graduate school acceptances and financial packages. We are encouraging them to savor the joy and acknowledge their efforts in this milestone. We are so very proud of them. As we well know, keeping up with coursework, working multiple jobs, participating in campus activities and applying to graduate schools is a fine balancing act.

We are also in the midst of reviewing applications for our next IRT scholar cohort who will begin their programming year with a 4 week virtual Summer Institute beginning in late June. By remaining virtual, all accepted scholars will have access to IRT faculty, College and University Consortium partners and all programming content. As with other organizations and institutions in service of diversifying the teaching profession, pivoting to increase opportunity and center equity remains the core of IRT’s work.

Alumni Accolades, March 2023

Dr. Aria Halliday, IRT ‘11 spoke at the University of California, Berkeley on a panel called “On Erotic Mastery: Pornography, Hip Hop Feminisms, and Transness” on March 1, 2023. The panel was hosted by Dr. Peace and Love El Henson, as part of the Black Studies Collaboratory Open University spring symposium.

Current UC Berkeley Ph.D. student Paul Salamanca, IRT ’18 attended the event and is pictured with Aria above.

Alumni Accolades, January 2023

Brittney Yancy, IRT ’03
Brittney holds a masters degree in U.S. History and earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History last year from the University of Connecticut. Brittney is currently an Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies at Illinois College.

Begin Your Degree in Full Swing

Advice from Kelicia Hollis, IRT ’11 for the Current IRT Cohort

It’s springtime, and flowers aren’t the only things budding. Likely, you too are abloom with the possibilities this fall presents you as you vet graduate school offers. You might be an undergraduate student going “straight through” to a master’s or doctoral degree, or reentering school after time spent caretaking or in the workforce. Whichever it may be, there are a few tips I’d like to impart to ensure you begin your degree in full swing.

As you navigate springtime, think about lovely spring colors such as pinks and lavenders and teals: T-E-A-L-S.

Alumni Accolades, March 2022

Rachel Ansong, IRT ’14

Rachel’s poetry collection, BLACK BALLAD, published by Bull City Press will be available in Summer 2022. You can preorder a copy or find out more about the author and the collection on Rachel’s website.

Yasmin Elgoharry, IRT ‘14, ’20
Yasmin is a recipient of the University of Connecticut’s (UCONN) Neag School 2022 Alumni Board Scholarship. Yasmin is a doctoral student at UCONN in Leading, Learning & Educational Policy with a concentration in higher education racial justice and decolonization.

Elizabeth Gill, IRT ‘11 and Ashley Johnson, IRT ’06
Congratulations to AERA Ed Change SIG members Elizabeth Gill and Ashley Johnson on the recent publication of their paper: “We, as parents, do have a voice”: Learning from community-based programs effectively engaging parents in urban communities. Urban Education.