Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Abdulrazik Mohamed! Abdu has been selected to receive the Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award for the College of Social Sciences, International Affairs. This award is presented to exceptional students who have shown a commitment to their education by demonstrating outstanding academic achievement with a minimum of a 3.75 GPA in their previous four quarters and through leadership and service to the community. Abdu is the founder and president of the International Affairs Community club at EWU. He is the Chapter Vice President for the National Society of Leadership and Success where he helps support new members and train them on leadership skills. Outside of school, Abdu works with refugee youth who do not have families or parents in the U.S. For the last three years he has helped teach them independent living skills they need to navigate the US such as homework, cooking, transportation, and job searching. In addition, he's volunteered for World Relief, Habitat for Humanity, and for the Mobile Food Bank.
Beyond his exceptional community involvement, Abdu is a brilliant, hard working scholar. He is a senior at EWU majoring in International Affairs. Throughout his time at Eastern, Abdu has received the Clarence and Elizabeth Wynia Scholarship, the Robert and Randi Neilson Scholarship, two EWU McNair Summer Research Internships, and the Excellent Student Leader Award from the Department of Political Science and International Affairs. He has also been invited to lecture in several classes on his research on Darfur, refugee resettlement, and life in refugee camps.
As a McNair Scholar, Abdu has committed to attaining a Ph.D. To prepare for this, he completed two summers of research internships at EWU under the mentorship of Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted. Abdu's research focuses on the conflict in Darfur and perceptions of that conflict. He has presented his research at multiple conferences including the 8th Annual International Symposium on Women and Genocide in the 21st Century: The case for Darfur and the Black Doctoral Network Conference, where he received an honorable mention for his poster presentation. To read more about Abdu and his research check out his webpage on the McNair site.
Abdu has been accepted into the Masters in Global Governance, Politics, and Security at American University, the Masters in Peace and Justice Studies at San Diego University, the Masters of International Affairs program at Penn State University, and the International Relations PhD program at Florida International University with full funding. Penn State awarded Abdu a Director Scholarship providing significant funding for two years. Moreover, Abdu was selected for a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, this provides funds to help cover institutional costs and a subsistence allowance, which Abdu can take to any university! Abdu plans to attend Florida International University in the fall of 2020.
McNair is so proud of Abdu and all of his hard work. We know he will have a continued powerful impact on academia and on the global community as he pursues a graduate education and beyond!
