METT Scholars at Howard University

Ammerreia (Math senior at Stillman College) and Pat Locke

9 May 2023 - METT Scholars goes to DC! Our good friend, Ms. Pat Locke, invited us to attend and present at the Howard University Cyber Diversity Symposium co-hosted by the University of Michigan. Through generous donations we were able to sponsor two students -Ammerreia and Galen - from HBCU Stillman University in Tuscaloosa to travel to this event.

The Symposium featured talks and panel discussions from leaders in major and small businesses, state and Federal government, and educators from K-12 up to internationally top-ranked universities. We discussed diversity in STEM, focusing on ideas to build pipelines in K-12 to introduce students to STEM careers and capture their interest. Funding, cultural norms, and awareness were major topics of discussion.

In one session, the moderator asked Ammerreia to stand and speak about her path to becoming a Mathematics major. She spoke clearly and emphasized the importance of changing cultural norms and re-enforcing with girls and people of color that they are capable and competent to pursue whatever field they desire. Ammerreia received a standing ovation after her talk.

METT Scholars is grateful to Ms. Locke, Howard University, and our sponsors for making our attendance with students possible. The only way to grow STEM diversity in our nations is to participate in the dialogue. This is in-line with our Vision and serves to expose our beneficiaries to the professions. Having our underrepresented students attend events like these impact them in so many ways - it helps show them and those they meet that this is a shared struggle and their hard work is meaningful to so many others.

We rely on your donations to sponsor students attending and making impacts at future STEM events. Please consider donating generously.