Alumni Accolades – Page 2 – Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

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!

Alumni Accolades, June 2023

Sonia Garcia, IRT ‘92 was appointed as the new assistant dean for Undergraduate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia.

Monica Muñoz Martinez, IRT ’05 named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year recognizing women who have made a significant impact in their communities across the country. She is an associate professor at the University of Texas.

Candis Watts Smith, IRT ‘05 is the interim Vice Provost of undergraduate education at Duke University.

Cecilia Márquez, IRT ’10 wrote a book “Making the Latino South,” which will be out in September 2023 from the University of North Carolina Press. Márquez is Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History at Duke University. For information on the book visit the UNC Press website.

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.