Alumni Accolades – Page 2 – Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Alumni Accolades, February 2025

We are so proud of all of our alumni accomplishments! If you are an IRT alum and would like to share your news in an upcoming post or if you are an alumni author and would like to have your book posted on our alumni publications page, please reach out!

Omar Galárraga, IRT ’00
Congratulations to Omar recently awarded tenure and is the Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, and Director of the International Health Institute at Brown University.

Photo: Brown University

Alumni Accolades, October 2024

Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91 and Ain Ealy, IRT ’21 met up at a week-long Summer Institute titled Towards a More Equitable and Inclusive Digital World in Latin America, sponsored by the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University and in collaboration with Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies and Arizona’s Center for Latin American Studies. Read more on Leislie’s experience.

(L-R) Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91 and Ain Ealy, IRT ’21

Angela Batista, IRT ’96
Batista was honored by the University of Vermont (UVM) during their annual Andrew Harris Legacy Reception. This annual event honors the legacy and work of UVM community members who have inspired and strengthened diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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.

Alumni Accolades, January 2024

Mishuana Goeman, IRT ‘ 94 is the chair and professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Buffalo. Her community-engaged work is devoted to several digital humanities projects and is widely published in monographs and peer-reviewed articles including Mark My Words: Native Women Mapping (University of Minnesota Press, 2013) and Settler Aesthetics: The Spectacle of Originary Moments in the New World (University of Nebraska Press, 2023).

Alyssa Garcia, IRT ’00 is currently a College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Gender & Sexuality Studies at Northwestern University. Alyssa holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Jonathan Anderson, IRT ’01 holds a master’s degree in elementary education, teaching, and divinity. Jonathan is a teacher at Johnston County Public Schools in North Carolina.

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!