McNair Staff
Rebecca Clark, MA, Ed.D
Director, Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program
107 Monroe
Phone: 509.359.2471
Email: rclark20@ewu.edu
Originally from Spokane, Rebecca Clark has over 20 years of experience in education, working with students in the Seattle area who are First Generation and from under-represented populations in achieving their academic goals, and is excited to join EWU’s McNair Scholars Program. Rebecca has her BA in History and International Studies from Gonzaga University and her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Seattle University. In addition, she recently achieved her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Gonzaga. She sees her role in education as a facilitator and has committed to increasing access and equity in quality education for all.
Cori Jaeger, MEd, MFA
Academic Advisor, Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program
107 Monroe
Phone: 509.359.6523
Email: cjaeger3@ewu.edu
Cori Jaeger completed her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction at Eastern in 2021. After two years as a McNair graduate student assistant, she was thrilled to become the Academic Advisor and support students through the research and application processes! She has followed a meandering path to get here – from managing a children’s toy store, to an MEd in Elementary Education, to running a summer camp for LGBTQ youth and youth of LGBTQ families, to wholesaling scarves, and then back to teaching. She also has participated in community organizing for racial justice for the last ten years and is currently volunteering with the Peace and Justice Action League’s BOLD project. She is excited to support McNair students however possible and is always down to talk about great TV, teaching/facilitating, young adult novels, mental health, summer camp and youth work, sci-fi/fantasy, or just however you are doing.
Bakima Ssebanakitta, BA
McNair Program Graduate School Assistant
107 Monroe
Email: bssebanakitta@ewu.edu
Bakima Ssebanakitta is an EWU McNair Scholar alum who’s joining us on staff this year while attending the Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program here at EWU. We’re so excited to have her join us. Pursuing a path towards a PhD in Psychology, Bakima plans to expand into tenured professorship and private counseling practice. Bakima is passionate about expanding education on self-advocacy, holistic wellness, intentional connections, and the relationships between stress and resiliency. She hopes her research and creative writing background will merge valid academic knowledge into the public sphere, by culminating in an actionable book for humanity. Bakima has operated in leadership and supporting roles for over 90% of her working career. Bakima brings to McNair scholar’s her seven years of experience in professional life coaching, conflict resolution and change mediation, mentoring middle- and high school students, and end-of-life facilitation applications combined with lyrical prose experiences.
“Serving as a GSA, particularly right after graduating from this McNair Scholar program, is a huge honor to pay forward resources I never dreamed of having access to nor knew existed”.
Reyna Rivera, BA
Graduate School Assistant for Recruitment
107 Monroe
Email: rrivera13@ewu.edu
We are so excited to have Reyna Ataly Rivera Aristigui join us as a GSA! Reyna is an EWU alumna with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work. Being a first-generation Mexican American college student, she is passionate about serving marginalized communities in order for them to reach higher education opportunities. From working on the DEI council at EWU to being a student lead at the school store helping train others, Reyna is always willing to help students succeed in academia or in their profession. She also enjoys talking with students about all kinds of things as such as plants, tv shows, music and delicious food.
“I’m very happy to be part of this team and to be a support system for the students.”
Get in Touch!
Use this form to contact the EWU McNair Scholars Program, or reach out to any staff on the Meet the Staff page above (https://inside.ewu.edu/mcnair/contact-2/).
