EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson was nominated to participate in the presidential search committee by former McNair Director Doctora Christina Torres García. The committee was comprised of faculty, staff, Board of Trustee members, and just a few students. As we chatted about her experience she exclaimed that it was really fun and she learned a lot. Looking at the candidates' Curriculum Vitae and portfolios was useful as Christina generated her own CV as she applied to graduate school as well as for thinking ahead to her future career as a faculty herself as to all the work and organizations that she could get involved with.
Ultimately the decision for the president rests with the Board of Trustees, but Christina felt that they did genuinely value the committee's input and listened to what all the different parties wanted out of a president. Christina participated in multiple interviews of candidates and worked with the committee as they whittled down the list to just 6 recommended candidates to the board. While committee members did not generate the questions, they did participate in asking them. Once the set questions for each candidate were asked, they also had the opportunity to ask their own.
Christina's choice for president is Monroe Gordon. "He clearly has a focus on the fact that everyone at the university is here for the students. And of course, we need adequate funding for the school to function for students and Gordon has strong experience both student affairs and business." She went on to talk about how she appreciated that he was charismatic and that his ability to engage with students as well as his view on diversity was excellent.
Christina was happy she had the opportunity to participate in this experience as she knows as a future faculty at a university she'll be dealing with more than just research and teaching, but also being a part of committees and other inner workings of a university. In the fall Christina applied for 8 graduate programs, primarily in Africana Studies. She is interested in decolonizing religious studies with a focus on ancient African religious texts, with the intention of shifting the way we view the contributions of people of color to the development of civilization throughout history. For her McNair Summer Research Internship she reviewed recent academic journals relating to religion to see how African religions were portrayed, if at all, culminating in her poster presentation and final paper, The Characterization of African Religion. Christina was selected to present her research at two different conferences and will be presenting at the National Association of Africana Studies and Associations Conference in two weeks. Needless to say, here at McNair, we have no doubt that Christina will not only get accepted into a graduate program, but that she will go on to be an amazing faculty and leader.
