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Yancey accepted to SILCS

Mariah Yancey

Mariah Yancey, a junior English/Spanish major at Clarion University, is one of a dozen students selected from throughout the nation to participate in the Summer Institute for Literary and Cultural Studies (SILCS) at Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., June 1-29.

SILCS is a four-week summer institute especially designed for those from ethnic or racial groups that are underrepresented in the field of English studies, as well as others committed to increasing diversity in the field. The purpose of SILCS is to introduce students to a career as an English department faculty member and to mentor them on their way to graduate school and beyond.

“One of the goals of the Institute is to encourage the pursuit of an advance degree in English,” said Yancey. “I want to learn more about that process. The SILCS Institute is quite prestigious. Visiting faculty from all over the country serve as instructors. I do want to go to graduate school and I believe this will expand my literary development.”

Yancey’s advisor and English department chair Dr. Elizabeth McDaniel nominated her for and is sponsoring her for the Institute. The application includes two essays written in her English classes and an essay on why diversity in English is important. Over 100 students applied for the one dozen positions.

A daughter of Robyn Yancey of Harrisburg and the late Melville Yancey Jr., Yancey is a graduate of Susquehanna Township High School. She first visited Clarion as a participant in the Harrisburg Partnership, a program with Harrisburg area high schools, intended to increase the number of minority and low-income students who wish to attend college after graduating from high school. It is the intent of the program to have participating students enroll in one of the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) institutions, which includes Clarion University. The Partnership includes summer classes on campus.

“I fell in love with Clarion,” said Yancey. “I liked the area and the professors. I was part of a focus group and I found out how personable everyone is and how willing they are to go above and beyond to help you meet your needs.”

Outside the classroom at Clarion, Yancey is quite active. She is an elected member of the Student Senate, serving as the chair of the dining committee. She is a member of the Black Student Union; Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honorary fraternity; Alpha Mu Gamma, the national foreign language honor society; and is the copy editor for the student magazine, “Eyrie.”

During the last two years, Yancey has performed in Clarion University’s annual production of Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues,” and in Spring 2009 plans to direct the production. She met Ensler when the author visited campus in February and traveled to New Orleans on April 11-12, with several other Clarion University students, to work as part of the crew for Ensler’s national “V to the 10th”celebration, the10th anniversary of V-Day, at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, La. Rogers Laugand, director of the Office of Minority Student Services, served as Yancey’s sponsor to go to New Orleans.

“Clarion is giving me a good education,” summed up Yancey. “My classes are perfect and I am learning something new each semester.”

SILCS is supported in part by a consortium of graduate programs especially interested in diversity in the profession. At the end of the Institute each year, representatives of the consortium programs will publicize their programs and recruit applicants from among the institute’s participants at a graduate school fair. Consortium departments also receive contact information for all applicants to the Institute. Sponsoring members include: The Ohio State University, Cornell University, and Texas A & M University. Other consortium members include the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Yale University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Western Washington University, Boston College, the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the University of Nevada-Reno.

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