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ICC's Salinas selected for prestigious Delta Scholars Program

Itawamba Community College sophomore Diana Salinas of Golden has been selected for the prestigious 2021 Delta Scholars Program.

The Delta Scholars Summer Institute is a 10-day immersion program during which students will work to identify an issue of inequality or injustice in which they are interested and develop a proposal for a project that will promote dialogue and change around that issue in their own communities or the state of Mississippi. Salinas and the other students will spend the first portion of the program at the Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University, where they will engage with faculty and guest lecturers from a range of disciplines to learn about issues currently challenging the people and the economy of Mississippi, including food insecurity, public health, education and more. Substantive lessons designed to teach students about the workings and impact of different systems in the Delta will be intermixed with skills-based workshops designed to give students the planning, research and advocacy skills necessary to begin developing their independent projects.

During the summer conference, which is scheduled for June 7-18,

students will take an Innovation Tour of the Delta, where they will have the chance to meet and learn from researchers, non-profit organizations and community members who have worked to tackle difficult issues in their community through bold new approaches and community-led efforts. While they are in Clarksdale, students will attend the Delta Regional Forum, where they will hear from a wide variety of presenters about current research and work impacting the Delta region and have the opportunity to present their own project proposals.

Following the Summer Institute, the Delta Scholars will reconnect in the fall for five days at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., which will provide an opportunity for them to share updates on their projects, receive continuing feedback, reflect on lessons learned from the program and discuss how those lessons might be applied to solving other problems in or outside of Mississippi.

Salinas is majoring in computer science at ICC, where she is vice president of the Student Government Association, president of the Computer Science Club, Diamond Girl, member of the Honors College and vice president of leadership and regional reporter for Phi Theta Kappa. Her honors include Hall of Fame, Dean’s and President’s lists, SGA Scholarship, Dean’s Scholarship, All-Mississippi Academic Team and NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars. Her community and church activities are translating, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and tutoring. She plans to transfer to the University of Mississippi. Her parents are Gabriela Cortes and Santos Vazquez.

“We had our largest group of applications ever from outstanding students attending institutions throughout the country,” said Dr. Christopher A. Snyder, dean and professor of history at The Shackouls Honors College in Salinas’s notification letter. “The academic panelists who read your application were quite impressed and look forward to working with you this summer.”



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