New Thurgood Marshall Students

Ron Dillard

Ronald D. Dillard received a BA in English/Education from WMU in 2002. Currently, Ron is assisting both Dr. Apker and Dr. Hearit with COM 200. His academic/research interests include inner-city school dynamics and boosting African-American male numbers in public universities.

Candace Dixon

Candace graduated in April from WMU with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast and Cable Production and a minor in Africana Studies. She was a scholar for Ronald McNair research program for two years. As a scholar, she had a privilege to present her research, “How African American Woman Are Portrayed in Hollywood Successful Films” in Puerto Rico. This year she is a Thurgood Marshall Fellow and is currently assisting Dr. Regina Spellers with COM 280: Introduction to Organizational Communication. Her academic research interest includes organizational communication and mentee-mentor support services.

Kendra Robinson

Kendra completed her undergraduate studies at Western Michigan University with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications Management. The focus of her graduate studies work is Organizational Communication.

Returning Thurgood Marshall Students

Cornelius Fair

Cornelius attended Jackson State University in Mississippi where he received his undergraduate degree in Speech Communication in 2002. His area of study is organizational communication. Currently he is working on a paper that examines the media portrayals of Kobe Bryant. This paper will be presented at Central States Communication Association. Personally, Cornelius enjoys traveling, music, shopping, and spending time with family and friends. Professionally, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. and a teaching career. His research interests include stereotypes, African Americans’s communication, gender issues, media, and black males athletes.

Patrice Hargrow

Patrice received her undergraduate degree in Applied Liberal Studies with a Minor in Social Work in 2002 from WMU. As a senior Patrice received a College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Award and developed an independent research project under the direction of Dr. Mark Orbe. This semester Patrice holds an internship with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. She plans to graduate in December.

Tammy Jeffries

Tammy graduated in 2002 from Western Michigan University where she received her BA degree in Interpersonal Communication. While an undergraduate Tami was named to the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges for 2001-2002 and was a McNair Scholar. Her first research article "An Autoethnographical Exploration of Racial 'I'dentity" has been published in the summer 2002 issue of The Journal of Intergroup Relations. Last year Tammy was selected to receive an all-University Graduate Research and Creative Activities award. This fall Tammy is teaching in the COM 170 model and continues to pursue her research interests in culture, communication, and the construction of identity.

Angela Prater

Angela is a graduate of Ferris State University. She received her undergraduate degree in Television Production. Over the next 6 years she worked as a news segment producer, audio production specialist, CCTV producer/director and teacher. This year she is publishing a paper with Sue Ellen Christian on the Common Ground project they worked on last year with local high school journalism classes, as well as working on a book chapter with Dr. Mark Orbe. This year she is working on her thesis project and is a COM 170 TA with Dr. Leigh Ford. This past summer she studied abroad at Cambridge University in England, partially funded by the Thurgood Marshall program. Angela’s academic and research interests are in critical media/cultural studies, pedagogy and gender research.