McNair Scholars Take Awards During Rewarding Summer (07/23/25)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The hard work by the 14 McNair Scholars paid off with awards and honed skills that will help them grow professionally and personally.
• The Winthrop group competed against other McNair Scholars from across the country through posters or oral presentations on June 26-29 in Atlanta, Georgia, showing off their exceptional work. Half of the scholars took a first, second, or third place award.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Across the Winthrop University campus this summer, 14 McNair Scholars spent time on research in preparation for competition and to help lay the foundation for their future studies. Their hard work paid off with awards and honed skills that will help them grow professionally and personally.

Business major Ne'Vaeh Walker worked with her faculty mentors, Adjunct Professor Erin Patel and Professor Cara Peters.

"Through my research on how diversity in advertising affects brand authenticity and financial performance, I've developed stronger skills in survey design, data analysis and presentation skills," said Walker.

Biology major Israel Bellinger studied how a malignant brain tumor was affected on the cell level with oversight by faculty mentor, Associate Professor Daniel Stovall.

Bellinger's research specifically focused on the downregulation of the protein RYBP by microRNAs in glioblastoma cells. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive, malignant brain tumor. "We hope to contribute to the research surrounding targeted molecular therapy in cancer treatment at large," said Bellinger, who plans to seek a Ph.D.

Psychology major Morgan Baxter surveyed 100 Black mothers and fathers to examine how adverse childhood experiences, racial discrimination and parental stress relate to parenting behaviors and child outcomes. Her mentor is Professor Donna Nelson.

"I wanted to understand how these parents' childhood trauma and current experiences with racial discrimination influence the stress they feel as parents, their parenting behaviors," Baxter said. "Ultimately, how all of these things affect social, emotional and behavioral outcomes in their children."

Baxter's fellow scholars voted her as "Scholar Among Scholars," an award and title that she humbly embraced.

Each of the scholars said the rigorous McNair program has given them the opportunity to grow on both a personal and professional level. It taught them to navigate important conversations with faculty and fellow students, gave them the resources and tools they need to navigate the graduate school application process and to succeed in graduate school. All of these are goals of the federal program named for South Carolina native and late astronaut Ronald McNair and funded by the U.S. Department of Education through a TRIO Program grant.

The Winthrop researchers pushed themselves and each other hard this summer, said Cheryl Fortner, a psychology professor who directs the program.

Competition Time

The Winthrop group competed against other McNair Scholars from across the country through posters or oral presentations on June 26-29 in Atlanta, Georgia, showing off their exceptional work. Half of the scholars took a first, second, or third place award.

Fortner said the Winthrop researchers received awards in every category in which the group competed. With almost $9,000 awarded, Winthrop Scholars took $2,500 of the total purse. "Winthrop took more awards than any other school," Fortner said, adding that the seven awards represented a third of the 21 possible awards.

Winning scholars were:

• Ne'Vaeh Walker, 1st in Business, $500
• Morgan Baxter, tied for 1st in Social Sciences, $500
• Ywomie Mota (Winthrop faculty mentor Samsara Soto), a Coastal Carolina student who also tied for 1^st in Social Sciences, $500
• Mercedez Hernandez (Winthrop faculty mentor Jennifer Disney), 2nd in Humanities, $300
• Cierra Randolph (Winthrop faculty mentor Timea Fernandez), 2nd in Life & Physical Sciences, $300
• Ja'Niyah Heyward (Winthrop faculty mentor Minnie Mize), 3rd in Education, $200
• Be Kuehn* (Winthrop faculty mentor Jason Hurlbert), 3rd in Posters, $200

*Kuehn is the first Winthrop McNair Scholar to receive awards for both an oral (2023) and a poster (2025) presentation.

Fortner said other McNair directors ask about the magic formula that helps propel Winthrop Scholars to achieve. She attributes it to strong faculty mentoring and an academic culture that encourages undergraduates to participate in research.

In addition, assisting the McNair Scholars are statistics and methods coach, Psychology Professor Matt Hayes, writing coach Stephanie Bartlett from the Office of Student Success, and Marian Moorer, program assistant who helps the Scholars with professional development and much more. Graduate Associate Sidney Morfin also supported the scholars throughout the grueling summer research internship experience, Fortner noted.

For more information, contact Fortner at [email protected].