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Quote

Howard is special to me because I have always been a minority in the schools I have attended and roles I have been in. At Howard, everyone is a minority. I was no longer singled out as the sounding board for all things POC or women-centered. I felt more included and part of a diverse family during my time at Howard than at any other point in my academic or professional life. This comfortability is something that I did not realize I was missing. I did not even notice the ways in which I have been stifled academically with other forms of formal education. Howard was the first time I could actually breathe as a student.

Biography

American government and Black politics PhD student Briana Hyman has been involved with the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center since beginning at Howard. Starting off as a volunteer with the Election Day Command Center in conjunction with the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, then as a Graduate Research Assistant, and now, she is the Winslow Sargeant Doctoral Award recipient. While balancing her time as an instructor at North Carolina A&T State University, Hyman is writing a doctoral dissertation that focuses on why U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico are not given presidential voting rights and congressional representation. She has been asked by the Walters Center to use her research to produce a paper on voter representation rights for D.C. residents.