2018 Cohort – Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Alumni Accolades, March 2026

Ben Vinson III, IRT ’92
Dr. Vinson was named a Harvard Hutchins Center fellow at the Afro-Latin American Research Institute. Congratulations!

Stephen Zrike, IRT ’01
Congratulations to Dr. Zrike, who was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey as Secretary of Education. Read the official press release on this appointment.

Karina Fernández Montilla, IRT ’06
Karina received the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Award by the ACE Women’s Network in Massachusetts. The award honors a champion of change whose vision and contributions are focused on changing structural systems for the advancement of women in Massachusetts colleges and universities. Read more about the award and Karina’s work.

Karina also received a staff recognition award at the Black History Month Showcase that recognizes staff and faculty at Hampshire College who often work behind the scenes without enough appreciation. Congratulations!

I am honored to have been nominated and to be recognized alongside colleagues who are so dedicated to supporting transformative educational spaces like Hampshire College.

Alumni Accolades, March 2024

Shani Mott, IRT ’97
Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Dr. Mott who passed away earlier this month. Shani was a lecturer in Africana Studies and the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University. An obituary is posted on the university’s website. To learn more about Dr. Mott’s legacy read the NYT article.

In Memoriam – Shani Mott, IRT ’97

Heather Moore Roberson, IRT ’01/’10
Heather is recognized by the PA Chamber for Black Owned Business in their compilation of 100 Black Trailblazers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

JT Roane, IRT ’08
Roane’s book Dark Agoras: Insurgent Black Social Life and the Politics of Place (New York: NYU Press, 2023) won the Pauli Murray Book Prize. Roane and other winners were honored at the 2024 AAIHS conference, hosted by The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia.

Aesha Mustafa, IRT ’16
Mustafa has been nominated for the 2024 Washtenaw Community College/Parkridge Black Business Community Impact Award. She is a co-owner of Integrative Empowerment Group, PLLC.

GJ Sevillano, IRT ’18
GJ is a recipient of the Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award by The George Washington University. This is one of the university’s highest teaching honors and recognizes GJ’s work in the classroom and contributions to the educational process at the university.

2023 IRT Summer Workshop Overview

The IRT virtual Summer Workshop brought together current scholars, alumni and university deans, and representatives to acquire, question, and disseminate knowledge based on lived experiences, public policy, and research. IRT alumni served as summer faculty and engaged with scholars through a variety of sessions this July. IRT scholars learned more about each other through a series of seminars, presentations, and reflective sessions.

Faculty Members of the IRT Summer Workshop

Alumni Accolades, September 2023

Gloria Barajas Rojas, IRT ’19 is currently a King, Chavez, Parks Future Faculty Fellow Instructor & Clinician at Central Michigan University. Congratulations Gloria!

Melvin Earle Villaver, IRT ‘18 is an Assistant Professor of Music and Global Black Studies in the Department of Performing Arts at Clemson University. Melvin earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at Purdue University this year. Congratulations and good luck at Clemson!

Alyssa Strykers, IRT’ 14 began their first year as Assistant Principal at Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School in New York. Congratulations and best wishes for a great school year!

Melvin Villaver, IRT ’18: Right Here Right Now

It is Tuesday, January 31, 2023, and as I begin to write this piece, it is 8:12 PM. I am currently at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the Delta A terminal awaiting my flight back to my home near Indianapolis, Indiana. The specificity of my location and the timing of all of this is important because ten years ago, I could have never imagined being right here right now.