Spelman ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Winner

ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a non-profit agency that helps keep young adults democratically engaged, recently hosted its third biennial awards ceremony to recognize select higher education institutions, educators, and students for their extraordinary work in student voter engagement during the 2020 presidential election.

For its work to mobilize voters, Spelman received the 2021 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Award. More than 840 institutions enrolling close to nine million students participate in the ALL IN Challenge.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and most students learning virtually, the honorees ensured students across the country could cast their ballots. The 2020 presidential election engaged the largest and most diverse group of college students in U.S. history.

“The rise in voter participation and engagement for college students in last year’s presidential election amidst a global pandemic was tremendous and will undoubtedly be tied to the tireless efforts of the dedicated students, faculty, administrators, and partner organizations that are part of the ALL IN Challenge network,” said Jen Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “The hard work of these trailblazing honorees will help support many of the country’s future leaders in fulfilling the equitable, engaged vision of democracy to which we aspire.”

Faculty, staff, students, and researchers are welcome to join a series of knowledge exchange sessions to learn more about research taking place at Spelman College and the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

The next session scheduled for 5 - 6 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 17 will feature a discussion on biostatistics with Bhikhari Tharu, Ph.D., assistant professor of mathematics and Kelley Kidwell, Ph.D., associate professor of biostatistics.

All events will take place over Zoom.

Spelman partners with the University of Michigan School of Public Health to offer an accelerated master’s degree program to students at Spelman College.

The program provides an accelerated path to a Master of Science degree in three Michigan Public Health Programs including - biostatistics, environmental health sciences and nutritional sciences. Students who complete and graduate from this program will receive a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.

For more information visit Spelman Health Careers on Spelman.edu.

Promoted Faculty:

Leyte Winfield, Ph.D.

Leyte Winfield, Ph.D., chair, Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics was promoted to full professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Dr. Winfield is a synthetic organic chemist with experience in academic, industrial and military laboratories.

Her efforts have been recognized by the American Association of Cancer Research and the Council for Undergraduate Research and have been funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

Alumna and Professor Selected for Ecological Award

The Ecological Society of America recently announced the first cohort of the ESA Excellence in Ecology (EEE) Scholars.

Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, Ph.D., C'95, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences was selected for her research, which investigates urban watershed management and environmental health disparities in underserved communities.

“This effort seeks to remove critical barriers to full participation in the retention and promotion of scholars who have traditionally been excluded or underrepresented in our community to make ESA more inclusive, especially for Black, indigenous, and people of color,” said ESA President Dennis Ojima.