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Fall 2022/Winter 2023 Alumnx Newsletter

Hello, GSP Alumnx!

Welcome to the 2023 Alumnx newsletter! We're excited to provide you with updates about the program and about our alumnx around the world. As our GSP alumnx network grows every year, we hope this newsletter will serve to keep you in touch with GSP's expanding alumnx community. 

Join the Global Scholars LinkedIn

Please request access to our revived GSP LinkedIn Group where our community shares opportunities for professional development, international travel accommodations, and personal achievements in global awareness and travel. We would like to encourage you to ask your GSP friends to join the group if they have not already! 

GSParty is Homecoming Weekend and YOU'RE INVITED!

On Friday, September 22, the GSP RAs will host their annual GSParty in the NQ Bowman Room (formerly known as the Tower Room) from 7-10 PM.  Join current and former GSP members for pizza, pop, dessert, games, music, and more!

Alumnx Spotlights

Aida Mandić, '12

Aida studied Women's Studies, but took courses ranging from Entrepreneurship to Community Action and Social Change. Aida has written and published dozens of books on topics including love, war, and life in general. Read more about her experiences on the GSP Blog.

Fall 2022 Semester Highlights

Celebrating Global Citizenship in Practice

We held our annual Global Citizenship in Practice (GCIP) event in December, 2022. The event featured GSP student speaker Sarah Oguntomilade who shared poetry and reflections on the development of her identity as a Nigerian American woman growing up in the U.S. and Mozambique.

We also welcomed keynote speaker Maritza Chan Valverde, Ambassador of Costa Rica to the United Nations. The Ambassador is an expert in international peace and security and spoke on "the Gender Equity Path to International Security." She is the first Costa Rican woman to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations since her country signed the Charter of the United Nations in 1945. Thank you, Ambassador Chan, for being our guest!

Our coming GCIP will be on Saturday, October 28 when we host Runa Ray, an environmentalist fashion designer who specializes in circularity, revival of ancient indigenous techniques, and re-creation of wealth from waste in the fashion industry. If you're in or near Ann Arbor in October, we'd love for you to join us for this signature GSP event!

Winter 2023 Semester Highlights

Global Engagement Symposium

The Winter 2023 semester was full of exciting events and student get-togethers! As a GSP community, we were able to have the first in-person Global Engagement Symposium since 2019.  Students shared poster board presentations of the internships they have worked hard on throughout the past year and we also heard from Kelly Yu, the Global Engagement Alumnx Speaker.

Kelly Yu, '19

Kelly Yu (she/they) is a Chicago-based activist turned teacher-in-training from Arcadia, CA. In 2019, she received her BA in Women’s Studies and Sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. For three years, they worked at a racial justice nonprofit called InterAction Initiative, where they collaborated with youth of color to promote their positive identity development and counternarratives, also known as stories from the margins. She is currently studying at Northwestern University to earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. Through this endeavor, they hope to become a high school history teacher and cultivate a liberatory classroom, where students feel centered in their identities and lived experiences.

Kelly recently spoke at the Global Engagement Symposium as the Alumnx Keynote Speaker.  

A group of five GSP students in front of a poster board getting ready to present on their internship experience with Inkululeko this past year.
Five GSP students smiling in front of their presentation board in which they reflect upon their internship they recently completed with ALPHA Education.
Kelly Yu presenting on her family's background and immigration story at the GEI symposium.
A group of four GSP students with food and drinks in front of them, celebrating at the reception in the Bowman Room following the symposium.
Group of six GSP students sitting on couches in chairs in North Quad with food and drink in front of them celebrating at the reception following the Global Engagement Symposium.
Kelly Yu standing in front of the classroom following her speech at the Global Engagement Symposium as the Alumnx Keynote speaker.

Spring Gala

On Saturday, April 8th, GSP’s Advisory Council hosted the annual Spring Gala, a night of celebration for all the accomplishments of students and student leaders over the academic year. This year’s Spring Gala was hosted in the North Quad dining hall for the first time, featuring cuisines from Mama Satto’s, Chelas, Taste of India, Cuppy's Soul Food, and Shatila’s. The night included speeches from staff and student leaders, karaoke (including a heartfelt performance of “Country Roads” by staff and students), prize wheels and games, and lots of smiles.

The GSP Gala layout! Taking place in the North Quad dining hall, decorations include long, horizontally aligned tables adorned with black tablecloths and gold trim. On top of each table are glass containers with lights, feathers, and beads.
Four GSP students pose in the North Quad dining hall awaiting the GSP Gala.
GSP staff Benjie, Nita, and Ashley smile with GSP alum Erik Anderson
2022-2023 GSP Advisory Council members and Student Engagement Coordinators celebrate their event, smiling under the black and gold balloon arch

From left to right: Vivian Nguyen (SEC), Anshuman Madhakur, Isabelle McIntyre, Kassie Martinez, Lacey Kirchen, Malik Salman, Sarah Sujkowski (SEC), Emmanuel Orozco Castellanos

A table of GSP students smile together after dinner
Lacey, Anya, and Erik share reflections on their time as members of the GSP Blog Team.
A large crowd of GSP students sing karaoke late into the evening
GSP staff Sarah, Katelyn, Carlos, Benjie, Ashley, Nita and Vivian hold globally focused photo props for a “silly” photo.

2022-2023 Student Leadership Highlights

In addition to GSP's signature events, student leaders were hard at work planning community events, such as dialogues, holiday and tradition celebrations, a trip to the cider mill, and more. Students and student leaders also shared their stories through community engagement internships, Sizzling Sundays cooking events, and articles, biographies, and playlists on the GSP blog. GSP staff created the following slide to honor all the hard work students accomplished over the 2022-2023 academic year!

Summer 2023 Semester Highlights

GSP Goes to South Africa!

In May, eleven GSP students and five Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP) students spent three weeks in Makhanda, South Africa on a service learning trip hosted by GSP’s partner organization Inkululeko (www.inkululeko.org). 

GSP and MCSP students with local high school students at one of Inkululeko's program sites.

Our GSP and MCSP community members helped Inkululeko program students from Ntsika and Nyaluza High Schools with their college applications, collaborated with Inkululeko colleagues and Rhodes University students to run a Career Day program for local high school students, and led a session of Inkululeko’s Business Skills Course.

GSP and MCSP community members also enjoyed helping Inkululeko’s team paint the interior and exterior of the Common Ground Cafe, a repurposed shipping container that supports local entrepreneurs. 

Another highlight was reading author Tokelo Hlagala’s book Poor Folk/s and then meeting Tokelo and his editor, Zuko Gqadavama, who is also an Inkululeko team member. 

Special thanks to Jason Torreano, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Inkululeko and the whole Inkululeko team. We are also grateful for financial support from the UM African Studies Center and the Sprayregen Global Scholars Fund.