Four Hunter College Students Selected as Jeannette K. Watson Fellows

Date: May 1, 2003
Contact: Deborah Sack (deborah.sack@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 772-4070

Four Hunter College students have been named as winners for 2003 in the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship Program competition.  Hunter is one of eight New York City colleges offered the opportunity to nominate five of their most promising students for 15 annual openings as Jeannette K. Watson Fellows.

The fellowship provides internship placements with generous stipends for three consecutive summers, affording opportunities for leadership and helping to advance personal and professional goals.  Fellows also participate in seminars during the academic year and benefit from individual mentoring.  The program seeks candidates who are first and second year students and who have demonstrated leadership, creativity and a commitment to building a better society.

Beginning its fourth year, the Watson Fellowship Program has graduated its first class. Imran Chowdhury, an inaugural student and Hunter graduate, is now in Malawi studying HIV/AIDS prevention on a Fulbright Scholarship.

The four Hunter students selected to participate in this extraordinary program are: 

Briana Aguilar-Austin, a second year student whose high school activities in her native New Hampshire included visits to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Barcelona, Spain, where she competed in an international field hockey tournament.  Her possible majors at Hunter are political science and Spanish.  Upon graduation, she plans to attend law school.

Jennifer Incontro, a sophomore who comes to New York from Los Angeles, California where she worked in professional musical theatre and had various film, dance, music and acting experiences.  She has managed a Los Angeles opera company and interned at a New York literary agency.  Incontro currently serves as editor of the Political Science Journal at Hunter, participates on the Model United Nations debate team, and will serve as the Secretary-General of the first collegiate Model United Nations Conference at Hunter College to be held in March 2004.  She is pursuing a BA/MA degree in English.  After graduation she plans on serving in the Peace Corps, and pursuing Ph.D. and law degrees.

Chika Okoye, a freshman who is a member of the Hunter Scholars Program.  In high school she participated in the Model United Nations Club where she served as a delegate on the UN Committee on the Status of Women and won the Outstanding Delegate Award.  Receiving her GED, Okoye has found that Hunter offers the academic challenges she seeks.  At Hunter, she is a member of the editorial board of the Hunter Review and is considering majors in psychology or biology.  Her professional direction will lead to work in the field of psychiatry.

Edward Quilice, a second year student who overcame many difficulties and drove across the country on his own after high school with no firm college plans.  Initially, he found work at Kings County Hospital, where he spent two years designing databases for the hematology and oncology departments.  At Hunter, Quilice plans to major in political science with a focus on international relations and a special interest in economics, human rights and developing nations.  He hopes to become a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and participate in the United Nations Student Union.  Quilice also enjoys writing nonfiction.

About Hunter
With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the first choice among all CUNY applicants. Founded in 1870, the College offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate programs. Hunter is noted for its professional schools in education, health sciences, nursing and social work, as well as its excellence in the liberal arts. Heralded as the "Crown Jewel of CUNY" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12. For more information about Hunter College, please visit our Web site at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu.

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