Join us in congratulating UCR graduate student Alexis Weatherspoon for being selected to the John Smartt Summer Scholars Program at The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. 

The internship program is designed to give interested master's students the opportunity to receive professional experience, connect with scholars in the higher education field, and learn fundamental research skills in connection to equity and leadership. 

Interns will get a $1,500 stipend, the opportunity to do and publish research, academic mentoring, and administrative experience, among other things. This year is the first year interns will be able to meet CMSI staff in person at Rutgers University — New Brunswick.

Alexis Weatherspoon is a passionate storyteller who aims to tell the stories of excluded identities through decolonized methods that speak to her identity as a black female athlete. Her time as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa led to her interest in motivating athletes to pursue both academic and athletic success by illuminating their strengths in both areas. After working as an Academic Advisor, Recruiter, Youth Career Navigator, and Enrollment Coach, she relocated to California in 2021 to attend the University of California Riverside to receive her Master's Degree in Diversity and Equity (anticipated June 2022). While there, she became a TRIO Scholars Graduate Mentor and participated in the Chancellor's Making Excellence Inclusive Certificate Program. In the first four years of Alexis' education journey, she attended J.S. Chick, an African-centered elementary school in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri - a short drive east of the infamous Troost Divide. She enjoys working out, exploring new cultures (especially through food and music), spending time with friends and family, and performing solo concerts in the car. Read the official release here.