MMUF Fellows and Alumni

Current Fellows

CLASS OF 2028

Teniola Adedire
Political Science

Teniola Adedire studies Political Science (Political Theory) and Sociology. Her work focuses on intersectionality, the sociology of education, and the justice system. Her research aims to explore how Black feminist thought illuminates the educational inequities facing Black girls in American public schools — particularly the forces that drive their disproportionate entry into the school-to-prison pipeline. Outside of MMUF, Adedire serves as the Editor in Chief of the Columbia Black Pre-Law Journal and is a Research Assistant with the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy @ Columbia, working with Professor Fredrick C. Harris.

Jasmine Diaz
Architecture; English

Jasmine is a Columbia College student majoring in Architecture and English. A Cuban American from Miami, her interests center on borderlands and migrant Latino communities, specifically how these populations adapt and respond to urban planning and systems in U.S. cities.

Serena Miles
Anthropology; African-American and African Diaspora Studies

Serena (she/her) is a Columbia College student pursuing a double major in Anthropology and African American Studies. Her prospective research traces how spatial histories and geographies shape identity formation and sustainment within Afro-diasporic religions.

Cecelia Reitter
Classics

Cecelia (Ceci) is a Classics major and German minor from Columbus, Ohio. On the Columbia campus, she is part of the Women's Wrestling Club Team and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc, is an editor for the Undergraduate Journal of Classics, and tutors with One-to-One Tutoring. Right now, she is in interested in exploring how Cicero’s literary work shaped and was shaped by his legal training because of his status as a kind of “canonical outsider” figure, as well as how his work has historically been received by culturally outsider scholars.

Yordani Rodriguez
American Studies; Education

Yordani is a Columbia College student studying American Studies and Education. He is originally from the Dominican Republic but was raised in Brooklyn. He aspires to understand the ways in which citizenship is constructed by undocumented students in classrooms, and how they navigate and make sense of the structural barriers imposed on them by their status. His intellectual hero is W.E.B. Du Bois, and his favorite writer of all time is James Baldwin.

CLASS OF 2027

Peyton Morgan Johnson
Linguistics

Peyton Morgan is a Black Creole New Orleanian majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology. She is interested in the sociolinguistics of New Orleans and Louisiana Creoles and languages of Black folks, as well as Afrofuturist theory, and Black and Indigenous life ways. When she is not working on a messy conlang, she enjoys painting, gaming, and spoiling her cat.

Jayna Kanoholani
Ethnicity & Race Studies

Jayna, born and raised in Wailuku, Maui, is an undergraduate student majoring in Ethnicity and Race Studies with minors in Political Science and Music at Columbia College. Drawing on her identity as a Native Hawaiian, she aims to center her research around finding solidarities in histories among Indigenous communities, with particular emphasis on language revitalization and Indigenous land practices. Jayna hopes to utilize her research and pursuit of knowledge for advocacy within the Native Hawaiian community and communities alike.

Elaheh Khazi
History

Elaheh Khazi, a Columbia College student, is majoring in History and Middle Eastern Studies and minoring in Religion. She is interested in conducting research on the Afghan American community, building off her previous work at WashU, specifically focused on reclaiming the narrative associated with her community. In the future, she hope to pursue a PhD focused on Afghan History, especially in terms of migration and the consequences of war.

Theo Martien
Creative Writing; Sociology

Theo Martien (he/they) is a transmasc student studying Sociology and Creative Writing. Their research interests include social movements, political patterns, political identity formation, and the queer/trans community. Right now, he is especially curious about the trans community’s social and political reaction to being scapegoated and the mounting threat of repression.

Michael Shavelle
English

Michael Shavelle is a Columbia College student majoring in English. He is interested in scholarship related to African American literature and analyzing its intersections with Black life and art. He is particularly interested in dance academic work and the contributions of Black artists in classical ballet.

MMUF Alumni

CLASS OF 2026

  • Nicholas Brown
    African-American and African Diaspora Studies; Sociology
  • Breanna Ellison
    English; Creative Writing
  • Naomi Flowers
    Political Science; African-American and African Diaspora Studies
  • Josiah Keys
    African-American and African Diaspora Studies
  • Ari X
    Ethnicity and Race Studies; English

CLASS OF 2025

  • Xavier Amaro
    History
  • Asher Baron
    Sociology
  • Korrin Lee
    Ethnicity & Race Studies
  • Renee Morales
    English
  • Colin Roedl
    Urban Studies

CLASS OF 2024

  • Eli Andrade
    English
  • Hoda Elsharkawy
    Middle Eastern Studies; Political Science
  • Roberta Hannah
    African American and African Diaspora Studies; Psychology
  • Dale Mcenany
    Education Studies; Sociology
  • Kennedy Winslow
    Urban Studies

CLASS OF 2023

  • Elizabeth Clarke
    Classics; Post Colonial Studies
  • Runnie Exuma
    Comparative Literature & Society
  • Sebastian Preising
    Political Science; Mathematics
  • Harry Foster
    English; Creative Writing
  • Astrid Liden
    Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Class of 2022

  • Jaala Alston
    Ethnicity and Race Studies; Economics
  • Diogene Artiles
    Comparative Literature & Society
  • Tyler Campbell
    African-American Studies; Creative Writing
  • Ariana Orozco
    Ethnicity and Race Studies; Medicine, Literature, and Society

CLASS of 2021

  • Yosan Alemu
    Comparative Literature & Society
  • Cassidy Nichole Gabriel
    Political Science; History
  • Abigail Hickman
    Political Science; Anthropology
  • Payton Johnson
    Sociology
  • Isabel Sepulveda
    English; Ethnicity & Race Studies

CLASS OF 2020

  • Keziah Trine Anderson
    History
  • Nicole Leon Elvir
    Political Science; Drama and Theatre Arts
  • Samuel George Hennison Powell
    Classics
  • Angelo Miguel Hernandez-Sias
    English; Creative Writing
  • Alan Burnett Valverde
    English

CLASS OF 2019

  • Sofia Nina-Bernardes Martins
  • Jorge Antonio Ochoa
  • Donovan Redd
  • Andrew Joseph Suarez

Class of 2018

  • Maia Collins
  • Mamasa Dukureh
  • Alyssa Mendez
  • Sydney Pickens
  • Migueyli Rivera

Class of 2017

  • Ashleigh Cartwright
  • Carmen Ervin
  • Breanna Leslie-Skye
  • María Muratalla Maes

Class of 2016

  • Ashley Casiello
  • Lorenzo Gibson
  • Isabel Iturrios-Fourzan
  • Elan Pochedley

Class of 2015

  • Kelly Luis
  • David Luna
  • Lauren Rangel
  • Giovanna Sánchez-Esquivel
  • Shondrea Thornton

Class of 2014

  • Keyanah Freeland
  • Marvellous Iheukwumere
  • Tamar Nisbett
  • Marlen Rosas

Class of 2013

  • Jennifer Alzate
  • Maryam Aziz
  • Rebecca Clark
  • Gerard Ramm
  • Devyn Tyler

Class of 2012

  • Daniel Alonso
  • Louisa Levy
  • Michelle Rosales
  • Nataly Sauceda
  • Daniel Valella

Class of 2011

  • Juan Lamata
  • Alex Moll
  • Albert Rigosi
  • SaraEllen Strongman

Class of 2010

  • Destin Jenkins
  • Paige Johnson

Class of 2009

  • Maria Abascal
  • Courteney Ervin

CLASS OF 2024

  • Eli Andrade
    English
  • Hoda Elsharkawy
    Middle Eastern Studies; Political Science
  • Roberta Hannah
    African American and African Diaspora Studies; Psychology
  • Dale Mcenany
    Education Studies; Sociology
  • Kennedy Winslow
    Urban Studies