Frances B. Houston Medallion Award

EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson Awarded Frances B. Huston Medallion

04/28/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne 1 Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson! Miriam has been selected to receive a 2019-2020 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences. This award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. For her field study experience, Miriam volunteered as a Housing Specialist at Family Promise, an emergency family shelter in Spokane. She connected guests with housing resources, created a resource center at the organization, and began an after-school homework club. She also built relationships with other community organizations and set up recurring monthly outreach meetings that catered to guests with little ones who found it challenging to travel around the city to gain access to resources. In connection with her work at Family Promise, Miriam joined the RESULTS advocacy group which works on long-term solutions to homelessness by looking at the root causes of poverty and through this has met and educated legislative aids regarding these issues. In addition, Miriam has helped provide childcare and learning services to 2nd and 3rd graders at Life Center for the past five years.

Beyond her exceptional community involvement, Miriam is an amazing scholar. She is a senior at EWU pursuing a BS in Applied Developmental Psychology, a BA in Psychology, and a minor in Communication. As a McNair Scholar, Miriam has committed to attaining her Ph.D. To prepare for this, Miriam completed a summer research internship at EWU under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert. She has continued research with Dr. Zeihnert and also does research with Dr. Charalambos C. Cleanthous. She presented her research at the EWU symposium and has been accepted to present her research at the Western Psychological Association conference in October 2020. She has been on the Dean's List at EWU since the Spring of 2017 and is a part of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. To read more about Miriam and her research check out her webpage on the McNair site.

Miriam was accepted to Gonzaga University's Education Specialist in School Psychology program and plans to both attend in the fall and continue her wonderful community work. McNair is so proud of Miriam and all of her hard work. We know she will have a continued powerful impact on academia and in her communities as she pursues a graduate education and beyond!

EWU McNair Scholar Marixza Torres Awarded Frances B. Huston Medallion

04/28/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Marixza Torres! Marixza has been selected to receive a 2019-2020 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences. This award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. Marixza is a Research Assitant working under the mentorship of Dr. Theresa Martin in the Psychology department. She is also the secretary for Scholars in Action, where she mentors peers, including creating and leading workshops on how to prepare for graduate school. In addition, Marixza acts as the Public Relations Chair for POWERS to support undocumented students and their allies. In the past, Marixza has been a Student Consultant at the EWU Multicultural Center where she helped assess student need as well as planned and promoted events. When there were issues around solidarity on campus, Marixza coordinated a Unity Rally to promote inclusion and followed up on feedback after the rally to coordinate support services for students.

In addition to her work in the community, Marixza is an exceptional and dedicated scholar. She is a senior at EWU majoring in Applied Psychology with a minor in Chicano Studies. As a McNair Scholar Marixza has committed to attain her PhD. To prepare for this Marixza completed two summer research internships, one at EWU under the mentorship of McNair Director Dr. Christina Torres García, and another at the University of Notre Dame under the mentorship of Dr. Dawn M. Gondoli. To read more about Marixa and her research check out her webpage on the McNair site. She also has participated in research with Dr. Theresa Martin and Dr. Martín Meráz García. Marixa has presented her research at symposiums at both Notre Dame and EWU, the Western Psychological Association, and the National Latinx Pyschological Association. She has been recognized throughout her academic career with multiple scholarships including the Jeffers Chertok Scholarship for outstanding acheivement in the EWU College of Social Sicences, the Wittenbach Trust Scholarship, and the Chicano Studies Program scholarship for Multicultural Acheivement. Marixza was also recently accorded an Honorable Mention for her grant application to the National Science Foundation.

Marixa has been accepted by the PhD program in Human Development and Family Services at the University of Missouri, the Masters of Social Work program at the University of Texas, Austin, and most recently a Psychology PhD program at the University of California, Irvine. The McNair family is so proud of Marixza and all of her hard work. We know Marixza will continue to have a huge impact on her communities as she attains her PhD and beyond!

EWU McNair Scholar Angélica García-Macías Awarded Frances B. Huston Medallion

04/24/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Angélica García-Macías! Angélica has been selected to receive a 2019-2020 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences. This award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. Angélica has been a student advisor for Welcome Week Orientation, a mentor for the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), and both a Legislative Affairs Associate and a Superior Court Justice Associate for ASEWU. She is a dancer, choreographer, and fundraiser for Ballet Folklórico De Aztlán. She has volunteered for EWU's Annual Drag Show, Habitat for Humanity, 2nd Harvest Mobile Food Bank, and Cheney Clean Up events. She also interned for the Washington Legislative Program in 2018 researching issues concerning housing and undocumented student resources as well as for the Sea Mar Executive Program, a non-profit that provides health care and support services for farmworkers and marginalized communities. In addition, Angélica did peer mentoring and advising with Scholars in Action, including creating and leading workshops on how to prepare for graduate school.

In addition to all of her extracurricular work and volunteering, Angélica is an incredible scholar. She is a senior at EWU majoring in Political Science and minoring in Spanish and Chicano Studies. As a McNair Scholar Angélica has committed to a path of attaining her PhD. To prepare for this she completed two summer research internships, one at EWU under the mentorship of Dr. Martín Meráz García, and another at MIT under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Stewart III. To read more about Angélica and her research check out her webpage on the EWU McNair website.

Angélica has been accepted by Political Science PhD programs at the University of Washington, the University of California, Irvine, and Michigan State University. She was also accepted into the Higher Education Masters program at Arizona State University. EWU McNair is so proud of Angélica and all her hard work. We're so excited for her next steps to graduate school and the lasting impact we know she will make on academia and in all of her communities.