The Honors College Black Ambition Student of the Month program serves to highlight George Mason University Honors College students that are advocating for diversity and inclusion on Mason’s campus. This month’s winner is Doreen Joseph who serves on a variety of executive boards that empower students (college and pre-college). The list of organizations she’s involved in includes the National Society of Black Engineers, Honors College Black Ambition, and the Honors College recruitment team. She assists with the Early Identification Program (EIP) as well.
Doreen is involved in a variety of student organizations and university programs that serve to empower students of color on Mason’s campus. She is the Pre-College Initiative (PCI) Chair for the National Society of Engineers (NSBE). NSBE’s mission is “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community,” and the goal of the PCI program is to encourage students in grades K-12 to attend college and pursue technical degrees. As the PCI Chair, she has planned educational activities for students in elementary through high school to stimulate their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM. This includes working with local schools that have underrepresented students, as well as students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Her goal is to increase the percentage of underrepresented populations in the STEM fields through student empowerment.
Doreen is also the Resource Chair for the Honors College Black Ambition (HCBA). The goal of HCBA is to dissolve minority stigmas, while creating unity in the Honors College community through Fellowship, Resources, Education, and Empowerment (a F.R.E.E. Community). As the Resource Chair, she motivates students to take advantage of the resources available to them, in addition to making sure they know what those resources are. She has created a database system to be used in conjunction with the new HCBA book lending library system effective Spring 2017. The mission of the new book lending service is to help students offset textbook costs per semester, and to support the scholarly needs of the Honors College community.
As a member of the Honors College Recruitment Team, Doreen has played a significant role in recruiting diverse groups of students for Mason’s Honors College. One example is through the Early Identification Program (EIP) for first generations students. She provides students in the EIP program with information about the Honors College application process, in addition to tips on how they can succeed at Mason, both academically and professionally. Her ultimate mission is to empower as many students as she can to pursue their dreams, especially considering the great deal of assistance she has received to get to where she is today.