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In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2009-10 academic year. Awards are based on the students' undergraduate course work, GPA, GRE scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations from political science faculty. A selection committee designated these individuals as the the 2009-10 Fellows.

2009-10 Fellows:

K. Jurée Capers
Ms. Capers recently graduated magna cum laude from Winthrop University with a degree in psychology and political science. She has received several awards, including the very first Janice Chastain Houk Award for Undergraduate Research in Political Science for a study on how bureaucratic leaders’ gender and race affect performance. Jurée is also a 2008 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute scholar, conducting research on how student and parental perceptions affect academic achievement.  She is currently interning with the Congressional Black Caucus in the Emerging Leaders Program. She is also an active member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society; Psi Chi, the psychology honor society; and Phi Kappa Phi, the national honor society. Her research interests focus on the racial inequalities that exist within education due to public policies, and the factors affecting student achievement. She hopes to influence education policies through her research and advocacy work. 

Vanessa Cruz
Ms. Cruz, a senior at DePaul University, is a double major in political science and economics. She is the recipient of the DePaul University Presidential Scholarship and she is a McNair Scholar. Ms. Cruz has demonstrated her academic excellence, leadership skills, and active participation in student research experiences at the Urban Institute and other programs. Ms. Cruz plans to study political behavior, mobilization, and the political incorporation of Latino immigrants, among other topics. 

Oluwatobi Jaiyesimi
Oluwatobi (Tobi) Jaiyesimi is a native Nigerian living in New York, a scholar in the Thomas Hunter Honors Program and a double major in english and political science at Hunter College. She fell in love with political theory, after taking an introductory course during her freshmen year. Her areas of research interest is in the study of marginalized intellectuals and theories of race and intellectualism. Some of her favorite books include The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, Native Son by Richard Wright, The Racial Contract by Charles Mills and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Tobi is an idealist at heart and an advocate for living the life of the mind.

Marisha Lecea
Ms. Lecea is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a current Master’s student at Western Michigan University, Marisha is currently researching citizenship policies in Japan, Germany, and Sweden. A paper based on that research earned her the Best Graduate Student Paper Award at the Michigan Conference of Political Scientists. In addition to citizenship and immigration issues, Marisha is interested in the dissemination of political theory in children’s literature. She is analyzing the politics of The Golden Compass and will presented that work at the 2009 Midwest Political Science Conference. In her doctoral studies, Marisha hopes to work on international politics and international relations. She has lived in four countries and speaks several languages, and hopes to apply this knowledge and experience to her studies.  

Yalidy Matos
Ms. Matos is a senior at Connecticut College from Washington Heights, New York, double majoring in government and gender and women's studies (GWS), with a minor in English. Yalidy is a GWS Fellow, assisting the department chair,  Mab Segrest, and a CELS (Career Office) Fellow. She is an active leader in issues surrounding gender and racial equity and rights, having prior positions such as co-chair of Feminist Majority, President of the GWS Student Advisory Board, and assistant to the affirmative action officer. She spent the summer of 2008 researching pan-Latino identity at the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute at Duke University. Following RBSI, Yalidy presented her research during a poster presentation at the APSA Annual Meeting in Boston. After her stay in Durham, she also interned at The Human Rights Project- Urban Justice Center in New York City. Currently, Yalidy is writing an honors thesis on how local-level global conventions.Yalidy plans to attend graduate school in political science and women's studies to study the systemic institutions of race/ethnicity and gender, and American democracy.   

Taneisha Means
Ms. Means is a senior at John Carroll University. She is majoring in political science and africana studies, with a minor in philosophy, and a concentration in sex and gender perspectives. She has maintained Dean's List status during her time at John Carroll University and at the University of Pittsburgh. Taneisha is a 2008 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) scholar. Ms. Means plans to attend graduate school in political science, specifically American politics, with specializations in race, judicial politics, and women’s studies. Taneisha wishes to teach at the university-level, researching the interplay between judicial politics and public opinion, and remaining an active volunteer and leader within the community regarding issues of race and gender. 

Tabitha Susan Marie Morton
Tabitha Susan Marie Morton is a senior at Texas A&M University in College Station. She will graduate in May 2009 with a BA in political science and a minor in history.  Ms. Morton is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Eta Sigma, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She is the oldest of three children and will be the first of her family to graduate from college. She is currently working as an undergraduate research assistant for the Texas A&M Political Science Department. Her research interests include the study of the effects of public policy on minority groups, as well as the effects minority groups have on public policy, and politics in general. She is also interested in the long term consequences of past policies on their target groups, with a focus on education policies that were intended to create an equal and quality education for all American citizens. 

Jason David Rivera
Mr. Rivera is a research associate at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey's William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy.  He has recently worked on research dealing with public policy in reference to disaster mitigation and relief, social justice in the face of disasters, the reconfiguration of landscapes and their affect on local and global politics, racial-political coalitions, race/ethnic relations, campaign civility, as well as research pertaining to improving university and community relations. Examples of Jason’s research can be found in The Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, Space and Culture: An International Journal of Social Spaces, Journal of Black Studies, The Journal for the Study of Radicalism, International Journal of the Humanities, Sociological Spectrum, Journal of Applied Security Research: Prevention and Response in Asset Protection, Terrorism and Violence, Through the Eye of Katrina: Social Justice in the United States, The Socio-Political Dimensions of Globalizing Landscapes, The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe, Dangers in the Incommensurability of Globalization: Socio-Political Volatilities and his co-authored book Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of Landscape.

Lisa Sanchez
Ms. Sanchez is a senior at the University of New Mexico majoring in political science with a minor in American history. She is a University of New Mexico Presidential Scholar as well as the recipient of the Dorothy Kline Scholarship for academic achievement in American politics.  Lisa’s experience as an intern at the New Mexico State Legislature helped cultivate her research interests in Congressional politics. Lisa’s junior thesis, “The Trinity of Religion and Congress: Representatives, Roll Calls and Religion” will be published in the Spring issue of the Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics and the McNair Undergraduate Research Journal. Ms. Sanchez is active in many campus organizations such as Mortar Board, Golden Key, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She co-founded and chartered UNM Bigs, the first ever partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters and a university. Lisa’s research interests lie in American political institutions, congressional participation and minority politics. She is completing her senior honors thesis, “Representing Me, Representing You: Religion a Descriptive Voting Cue?" In addition to her interests in political science, Lisa is an intern at Los Alamos National Laboratory focusing on intellectual property, patents, license agreements and database creation. Lisa plans to earn her PhD in political science with a specialization in political institutions.

Maria Santos
Ms. Maria Santos obtained a BA in international affairs and political science, and a MA public administration from Florida State University. After working for two years at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, she joined the federal workforce and is now a human resources specialist for the Smithsonian Institution. Ms. Santos is part of a diversity recruitment initiative. She is also a liaison to the Partnership for Public Service and the Federal Hispanic Career Advancement Summit, which focuses on attracting the right talent to careers in government.  She believes that political and cultural issues/unrest abroad can impact Americans at home; she is now an aspiring doctoral student, interested in international politics.

Nana Sarfo
Mr. Sarfo was born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Woodbridge, VA.  He is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Business School with a BS in business management.  He has also earned a BA in government and international politics from George Mason University. Nana has maintained Dean’s List status during his time at the George Mason University while simultaneously serving as a senior consultant to the Navy for the past four years. As a graduate student, Nana wishes to explore and measure whether China or Russia can emerge as the world’s next hyper power and whether both of these nations can present a viable alternative to liberal democracy with their distinct brand of authoritarian capitalism. Nana hopes to obtain a PhD in political science at a major research institution.

Breanca Thomas
Ms. Thomas is a senior majoring in journalism, with a minor in political science and Spanish. Breanca will graduate magna cum laude in May 2009, and plans to pursue her PhD in political science with a focus in education policy. Her research interests include income and racial disparities in K-12 education legislation, across governmental levels; redistricting, and suburbanization. She is also interested in social policy topics like welfare reform, poverty, and public housing. Breanca participated in the 2008 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute and presented her research at the 2008 APSA Annual Meeting in Boston.  At OU, Breanca is Miss Black University of Oklahoma 2008, president of the Kappa Psi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a member of the Honors College, and leader of a mentorship program between students at OU and a local middle school.

The 2009-10 Minority Fellows Selection Committee:

• Janelle Wong, Committee on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans in Political Science
• Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession
• Diane-Michele Prindeville, Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas

For more on the Minority Fellows Program >>