Xavier University of Louisiana
1 Drexel Drive
New Orleans LA 70125
www.xula.edu
STEM Teaching Force
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
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New Orleans, La.
Permit No. 387
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Volume 20 | Spring 2014
A publication for prospective students of Xavier University of Louisiana, their parents, and High School counselors
trained to work with students in
urban high needs schools and
districts, highly knowledgeable in
STEM content areas, and culturally
sensitive to special needs of the
inner-city community.
“Xavier is delighted to have been
selected to join this elite group
of organizations and foundations
committed to training 100,000
STEM teachers over the next ten
years,” said Xavier President Dr.
Norman C. Francis. “STEM literacy
and the importance of ensuring
that our nation is fully prepared to
address the current STEM teacher
shortage is a national priority and
one that we at Xavier stand ready to
address.”
“We especially look forward to
collaborating with the growing
number of more than 150 partners
currently in the network in order
that we can share our own STEM
successes while learning new and
innovative practices and concepts
that will help ensure America’s
leadership in this critical area,” he
said.
More and better-trained STEM
teachers are essential to prepare
America’s students to fully
participate in our democracy and to
understand and respond to complex
national and global challenges. To
compete in the global marketplace
and provide opportunity to all
young Americans, all students –
not just those fortunate enough
to attend certain schools— must
have basic STEM skills and
knowledge. Xavier is one of nearly
200 100Kin10 partners unified by
a single, ambitious goal: to prepare
all students with the high-quality
STEM knowledge and skills to equip
them for success in college and the
workplace.
With 65 percent of its incoming
freshmen focusing on a STEM
discipline, XULA has perfected the
model in successfully guiding and
educating minority STEM students.
Yves-Yvette Young, a senior psychology major from
St. Paul MN, is congratulated by XU Provost and
Senior VP for Academic Affairs Dr. Loren Blanchard
after receiving a student community service award
during the 28th annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Week
for Peace Celebration for her leadership role in the
University’s MAX service program and numerous
other activities.
Did You Know?
Chinedu Echebelem, a junior chemistry/
premed major from Dallas TX (Duncanville
High School), was named a 2013 DaktronicsNAIA Scholar-Athlete. One of the catalysts
behind the Gold Nuggets volleyball team’s
three-year unbeaten streak in the Gulf Coast
Athletic Conference, she was the only athlete
from the GCAC among the 391 national
recipients. To be considered for the award,
scholar-athletes must maintain a minimum
grade-point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
Catherine Fakler, a junior English education
major from Phoenix AZ (Xavier College Prep)
was selected Runner of the Year on the
2013 All-Louisiana women’s cross country
team. She is the first female runner from
a non-NCAA Division I school to receive
the honor. Back in November she recorded
FLYING HIGH: Zachary LA sophomore Morris Wright
goes in for a fast-break shot against a trailing
defender during the Gold Rush’s 62-54 win over rival
Dillard in the annual Crosstown Classic, which drew
nearly 3,000 fans to the XU Convocation Center. The
men’s/women’s doubleheader was preceded by a free
tailgate block party.
For more information or to submit an online
application for admission, please visit the
Xavier website at www.xula.edu.
Office of Admissions
Phone: (504) 520-7388
Toll Free: 1 (877)-XAVIERU
Fax: (504) 520-7941
Email: apply@xula.edu
Xavier’s highest-ever finish (68th) at the NAIA
National Championships.
Jesslyn Magee, a junior biology/premed
major from Corona CA (Centennial High)
and a LS-LAMP (Louisiana Alliance for
Minority Participation) scholar, worked on a
project with the LSU-Shreveport School of
Medicine focusing on cortical thickness in
the brain convexity in multiple sclerosis. She
is currently working in the lab of Dr. KiTani
Parker-Johnson (pharmacy) investigating
pharmacological interventions to inhibit
triple negative breast cancer cells.
Erika McClain, a senior chemistry major
from Jacksonville FL (Wolfson High) and a
LS-LAMP (Louisiana Alliance for Minority
Participation) scholar, currently has two
publications under review in the Journal
of Undergraduate Research relating to her
research focusing on the production of
Cytochrome p450 suicide inhibitors under
mentor Dr. Maryam Foorozesh (chemistry).
Javon Mead, a McNair Scholar and senior
accounting major from Gonzales LA (Baton
Rouge High), has been invited to participate
in the highly-competitive Accounting
Diversity Consortium hosted by the Wake
Forest University School of Business.
Kaylan Rogers, a junior elementary
education major from Rosenberg TX (Lamar
Consolidated High), was named recipient of a
Boyer Teacher Scholarship , which is awarded
annually by the Ernest L. Boyer Center to
undergraduates who have demonstrated
their commitment to education and to
emphasizing community and service. She
was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.
Two Engineering LS-LAMP Louisiana Alliance
for Minority Participation) scholars – Jamere
Maxwell, a senior chemistry major from
Baton Rouge LA (McKinley High), and Jami
Blouin, now pursuing an advanced degree in
engineering at the University of Miami – have
filed a provisional patent on a new invention:
the “Solar Powered Turbine Photobioreactor”,
which acts to lower CO2 emissions while also
growing algae for biofuel production. The
team, under mentor Dr. Kristy Brumfield
(biology), is currently seeking collaboration
from other engineering programs in order to
advance the work on this project.
Psychology Major Receives
MLK Service Award
Yves-Yvette Young, a senior psychology
major from St. Paul MN, was honored
for her community service during the
28th annual Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Week for Peace Celebration.
Young, whose passion for children and
love of people has fueled her zeal for
community service throughout her
years at Xavier, was recognized for
emulating the true spirit of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and for embracing
the Xavier’s mission of leadership and
community service.
Young’s penchant for involvement
became obvious as early as her
freshman year, her volunteer work
with the Girl Scouts at Xavier and
the Hunger Coalition earning her a
reputation of “always going the extra
mile.” The next year she served as
Outreach Day Project Coordinator,
organizing cultural enrichment and
educational activities for youth 6–12
years.
A MARC Scholar, she has served as
a Peer Dean (orientation leader), XU
Love freshman mentor, Orientation
Community Service Chair, and on
the MLK Week of Peace Committee.
Embracing her passion to serve and
capacity to lead, Young is now in
her second year as co-chair of MAX
(Mobilization at Xavier), keeping tabs
on over 250 volunteers, 10 programs
and 15 project coordinators.
“I just try to lead by example,” she said.
“Encouraging others and showing the
way to keep the Xavier tradition, and
my purpose, growing strong.
Xavier Named Partner
in 100Kin10 National
Network to Grow STEM
Teaching Force
Xavier has been accepted as a partner in 100Kin10,
a multi-sector network addressing the national
imperative to train 100,000 science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) teachers by 2021.
Xavier is the only university in Louisiana and the only
HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
nationally in the collaboration.
As part of its commitment to 100Kin10, Xavier will
provide hands-on professional development for
225 STEM teachers (including elementary) through
workshops and site-visits led by STEM professionals,
with activities that are culturally sensitive to the
community and students with special needs.
In addition, the University will also prepare 110
teachers (50% will be elementary) who will be
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Volume 20 | Spring 2014
U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer
Helps ‘Build the Builders’
Tamorah Hawthorne ‘11 at Home
for Girls in Philippines
Helping abused children, working on their
recovery, coaching them to find their
strengths and move on has always been the
way of life for workers at the Home for Girls
in Iloila, Philippines. But a U.S. Peace Corps
volunteer has taught them to love their job
and at the same time love themselves.
Home, a center for young girl victims of
abuse managed by the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
in Region VI, is the place of assignment of
Xavier graduate Tamorah Hawthorne ‘11
since September 2012. In that period, she
has carved her place in the hearts of the
staff and residents.
“I thought it was about time to also give
attention to the workers who help the
children. So I, along with social worker
Roqueta Aquio, thought of implementing
the “Building the Builders Project,” said
Hawthorne. “We wanted a project that
would positively affect the lives of the
residents (refers to girl residents of the
center) and that is investing in the staff
through staff development.”
She illustrated the importance of the
project into a flowering plant in a pot. “It’s
like the pot is the center, the soil is the
staff and the flowers are the children. For
the flowers to blossom beautifully, the soil
must be rich,” she said.
The project implementation began with the
retreat conducted in September at Alobijod
Cove Resort in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras.
The goal of the activity was to renew,
energize and have a venue for bonding
among the staff. Topics included personal
assets, team building, vision, mission
and goal design, self-care, positive and
objective feedback and personal baggage.
It was followed by the three-month staff
development series with the goal of
increasing professional and technical
skills of the staff. Training sessions were
conducted during monthly staff meetings.
Discussed were Effective Communication
strategies for authority figures,
development of the Why-Igniting Passions
and Conflict Resolution.
At this point, project implementation is on
its third stage which is the creation of a
Home for Girls training team, a group that
will coordinate and facilitate future staff
development activities.
Rosalina Lorque, center head, was quoted
saying, “We are thankful to Ms. Hawthorne
for helping us and giving a part of herself
to us. We value so much her contribution to
the center and the optimism and improved
ties will be maintained. This will be her
legacy to us … that even after her assignment
ends the efforts for the development of the
staff are sustained.”
Optometry student leads at local,
Samford Law Professor Uses Lessons of Civil Rights Movement to
Devin Sasser ‘11 was a determined child.
When most 6-year-old boys wanted to be a
baseball or football player, the Dallas native
was adamant that he someday enroll in law
school and become a lawyer. By age 11,
he’d moved past that and set his sights on a
health-science field.
Wendy Greene ‘97 says effective teaching is more than lecturing;
it is engaging students in the subject matter through different
methodologies so that the learning has personal meaning and
application to students’ daily lives.
American civil rights history. “One of the great things she’s done is
help us get tied in to the [Birmingham] Civil Rights Institute, which
is an invaluable resource, not only for our students but for everyone
else in the community,” says Carroll.
From an early age, Wendy Greene knew she wanted to be a lawyer.
Wendy B. Scott, a North Carolina Central University law professor
national levels
Fight Current Day Racial Inequality
“If you talk to my mom, she would say I’m
her child who had too much focus at too
early of an age,” he says, laughing.
Inspired by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall and the stories of her parents’ participation in
student-led sit-in demonstrations for civil rights, Greene
learned as a young girl that the law could be a force for
bringing about social justice.
Now 25, Sasser is getting closer to his goal
as a third-year optometry student at the
University of Missouri-St. Louis. And his
ambition hasn’t waned a bit.
The civil rights struggle in the U.S. “just motivated me
to think about being a lawyer and how the law can make
such positive changes in our lives, and also how it can be a
negative,” says Greene.
In addition to his class and clinic workload,
Sasser serves as newly-elected president
of the American Optometric Student
Association, which represents more than
6,400 students attending the 23 schools
and colleges of optometry throughout
North America. He also holds leadership
positions in the UMSL Student Volunteer
Optometric Services to Humanity and the
National Optometric Student Association.
In addition to recognizing the law’s influence while growing
up, Greene saw firsthand the positive impact that teachers
had within her hometown of Columbia, S.C. The examples
of her parents, grandmother, aunts and uncles, who
were educators, planted the idea that she could combine
teaching and law into a career.
In the simplest terms, he described the
organizations in this way: AOSA helps
students, SVOSH helps people in other
countries and NOSA helps the St. Louis
community.
She further said that the project is wellappreciated by the staff as it gave focus
to them to become “change agents and
mentors” to the children whom they serve.
Being involved beyond the classroom
appeals to Sasser because he wants to
avoid complacency and be able to grow
within his profession. Networking has been
a huge plus too.
For Hawthorne, being assigned at Home
is a blessing. “I feel proud and lucky to be
a DSWD and Home for Girls volunteer. I
truly feel blessed to be assigned at Home
for Girls. All of the staff and residents
are amazing and a pleasure to work with.
Working at DSWD Home for Girls Field
Office VI is a dream come true. I know even
after my service they will live in my heart
forever,” she said.
“I’m meeting so many people,” Sasser
says. “Just a couple days ago we were in
D.C. where we were doing a Congressional
advocacy conference (on student loan
relief for optometrists who practice in
areas devoid of health-care services), and I
had a chance to meet with Rep. Paul Ryan
(R-Wis.). It’s something I never thought
I’d be able to do. In the short time I’ve
been at UMSL, it’s been a crazy ride – just
awesome.”
- Courtesy of May Castillo, Regional
Information Officer - Republic of the
Philippines, Department of Social Welfare
and Development
His biggest campus leadership role so far is
as member of the AOSA Board of Trustees.
He represents UMSL.
“When students at our school tell me of
Devin Sasser ‘11, a third-year optometry student at
UMSL, holds leadership positions in several local
and national student organizations.
concerns, I’m able to bring that to the
national board,” he says. “It’s really quite
awesome that we’re able to make change
to better our education and experiences as
optometry students.”
One of NOSA’s big events is an annual
Easter egg hunt for the visually impaired in
the courtyard facing the Thomas Jefferson
Library entrance at UMSL. This year, Sasser
even dressed up in a bunny suit and braved
the unseasonably hot spring day in head-totoe faux fur.
Through SVOSH, he helps clean and
prepare eyeglasses that are sent to people
in developing countries. Organization
members also go on mission trips. Sasser
hopes to fly to Ghana next year to deliver
optometric services to the African country’s
residents.
“That’s probably the most rewarding of
the organizations because you’re able to
bring something to people who probably
won’t ever have the opportunity to get that
service,” he says.
Sasser chose UMSL to pursue his optometry
degree because he felt the faculty and
students were supportive and encouraging
– something he says he didn’t feel at other
universities. He says he loves St. Louis,
but after this year, Sasser, a self-described
“Southern boy,” will likely return to Dallas
for fourth-year rotations. It’s the last step
en route to completing his degree.
Sasser then hopes to complete a yearlong
residency, perhaps at a veterans affairs
hospital in New York, before returning
to the South. He might then work for a
couple of years at a hospital to gain further
experience before branching out into a
private practice.
Regardless of his path, Sasser remains as
fervent about his future now as he was as a
young aspiring lawyer.
- Courtesy UMSL Magazine (Ryan Heinz)
- Photo by August Jennewein
Since 2007, after joining the faculty of the Cumberland
School of Law at Samford University, Greene has pursued
the law school teaching career she dreamed about as a
youngster. As a tenured professor of law and director of faculty
development at Cumberland, the South Carolina native has gained
national recognition for her writing and research on topics related
to race, gender and discrimination.
Greene has won awards at Cumberland for her teaching and
research. Among the topics she has taught and written about
include racial and gender inequality in the workplace; workplace
grooming codes; comparative slavery and race relations
law; historic and contemporary racial determination cases;
multiracialism and the law; critical race theory; and race and
gender in legal academia.
Greene’s research has been recognized for her advocacy for
greater protection against racial discrimination stemming from the
enactment and enforcement of workplace grooming codes. She has
published three articles, “Title VII: What’s Hair (and other RaceBased Characteristics) Got to Do with It?”, “Black Women Can’t
Have Blonde Hair … in the Workplace”, and “What Not to Wear in the
Workplace: Hijabs and Natural Hair,” in legal journals.
“[Greene has] been certainly one of the intellectual leaders on the
faculty,” says John Carroll, dean of the Cumberland School of Law.
”Her publications are nationally recognized. I think probably, of all
the people on our faculty, she is the most sought-after speaker at
national forums.”
With Samford University’s prominence in Birmingham, Ala.’s social,
cultural and intellectual life, Greene has pursued law school and
community service interests that reflect the city’s historic place in
Wendy Greene ‘97
and former Tulane University law school faculty member,
commends Greene for the initiative and foresight she showed while
working as Scott’s research assistant during her law school years at
Tulane.
“Even as a student [Greene] had started developing a scholarly
agenda and would talk to me about it,” Scott says. “She had a plan.
She executed that plan, and she’s become a very prominent person
in the profession already.”
Greene says that, as an undergraduate at Xavier University of
Louisiana, she took the opportunity to explore a wide variety of
topics in literature and history that interested her. Although she
considered the idea of earning a Ph.D. in literature, Greene came to
understand that she could pursue her interests, such as the history
of slavery in the Americas, as a law school student and eventually
as a law professor.
“Basically, I took a lot of courses and did a lot of writing and
researching on these issues when I was an undergrad,” she says,
“and I figured there was a way to be able to transfer all of these
things I was interested in to law school.”
Through her time at Tulane and at The George Washington
University law school where she earned a master’s degree, Greene
pursued the research and writing interests that continue to inspire
her current scholarship.
- Courtesy Diverse Issues in Higher Education (Ronald Roach)
- Photo courtesy DIHE