Five Saint Mary's students and a professor were recognized for their writings on the African-American experience at this year's Southern Conference on African-American Studies, Inc., held Feb. 19-23 in Charleston, S.C.

"These awards announce Saint Mary's College as an up-and-coming presence in African American Studies," said Alexis Brooks-DeVita, an English professor and the faculty delegate to the conference.

Brooks-DeVita invited students Cyd Appelido, Novella Brooks-DeVita, Jessica Domingo, Danielle Greer and Apryl Underwood to attend the conference, based on essays they had written as an assignment in her "African-American Women's Autobiographies" class last semester.

"I wanted to take a group of ethnic minority students to hear what experts in this field would say about their work," Professor Brooks-DeVita said. "For a minority student here, she can feel like her work is irrelevant, so to not only hear what African American scholars are saying, but to be recognized by the best of them was a feat."

Saint Mary's competed against Morehouse College, the nation's prominent all-male school for African American studies, along with other schools of the same caliber.

"At first, everyone was all asking, `Who are these Saint Mary's girls? We've never heard of them before.'" Domingo said. "It was very positive to then see them so affected by what we said."

Judges awarded the Saint Mary's group The Reanitsa K. Butler Memorial Scholarship.

"Saint Mary's set a whole new standard. We didn't exactly know the rules, but we went in, ignorant and brave and offered an important dynamic they had not seen before" Brooks-DeVita said. "I was thrilled they had such an impact on the conference."

Senior Novella Brooks-DeVita won The Lillie Newton Hornsby Memorial Collegiate Essay Award for her essay, which will be published in SCAASI's scholarly journal, The Griot, this spring.

"It was nice to see such a strong reaction," she said. "Everyone there was so intense and passionate about what they study, so to get their recognition was pretty important."

contact Meghan Cassidy at cass0593@saintmarys.edu

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