Two Illinois Wesleyan University students have been granted fellowships as part of the 2024 Eckley Summer Scholars and Artists Endowment.
Each scholar will be granted a $6,000 stipend to dedicate their summer to academic research or artistic endeavors, guided by a faculty sponsor. Established by the late IWU President Emeritus Robert Eckley and his wife Nell, the program is designed to develop and deepen a student’s creative and research competencies.
Students selected for the fellowship, their projects and their faculty sponsors are:
Student: Jessie Jia '25
Project: “The Power of Place: A Different Picture of America in Literatures of Migration”
Faculty Sponsor: Assistant Professor of English Juan Rodriguez Barrera
Major: English - Literature
Hometown: Jilin City, China
Student: Asia Rogers '25
Project: “‘Why I Gotta Be So Mad?’ Liberating Black Women’s Voice for a New Hybrid Poetry Project”
Faculty Sponsor: Isaac Funk Endowed Professor of English Joanne Diaz
Major: English - Writing
Hometown: Chicago