Miriam Al-Hamdani, BS Biology, BS Health and Society
Tosin Ilesanmi, BA Human Rights
Caleb Garcia, BA Political Science, BA Public Policy
Alexandra Reyes, BS Geophysics, BS Biochemistry
Topics such as Child Marriage in Africa: Examining the Legal, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Realities Through the Power of Storytelling, as well as Islam, Healthcare, and Hesitation: Physician Trust Among Muslim Women in DFW are just two of the research projects presented by five SMU Scholars at the annual McNair Scholars Conference held this year at UCLA.
The McNair Scholars at SMU is part of the College Access program in Simmons and is designed to help students understand how to best pursue a graduate degree. College Access Director Dr. LaChelle Cunningham says the program is especially helpful to first-generation college students and others who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue research. She says it prepares them by helping them learn how to do and present their research, connects them with faculty mentors, and it gives them the opportunity to travel to other universities across the country to visit potential graduate schools.
McNair Scholar Tosin Ilesanmi says the program has helped her tremendously. “I now know how to approach research from a different perspective. Now I’m very confident moving forward applying for grad school.”
Cunningham says the SMU McNair program is very successful. “We see them entering grad programs, getting exciting fellowships. We have students who are now attorneys and others who very close to reaching their goal of getting their Ph.D.”
During the 2025 conference trip, the McNair Scholars toured the UCLA campus and research facilities, met faculty and current students, and received information regarding funding and the application processes for graduate school.
In addition to visiting college campuses, students are given the opportunity to explore the local communities to feel more comfortable about possibly living in the area during the time it would take to earn their degree.