Several John Jay College of Criminal Justice students – including three graduating seniors – and one recent alumna have won prestigious academic scholarships and fellowships.

The end-of-year listing announced by John Jay College and the City University of New York includes a winner of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides annual stipends totaling $138,000 over three years. Susybel Roxana Pimentel, who graduated in 2012 with a B.A./M.A. in Forensic Psychology and is now a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati, is conducting research into the impact of police contact on youth, such as being stopped or arrested, and its policy implications on policing strategies. Pimentel hopes to understand whether aggressive police contact affects later delinquency and criminal activity, as well as the role of perceptions and attitudes in shaping such interactions.

Jamel Love, who receives his B.A. in Political Science on June 3, won an American Political Science Association Minority Fellowship, which provides $4,000 for graduate study. Love, a Ronald E. McNair Scholar who will enter the doctoral program at Rutgers University, has conducted research as an undergraduate into African-American voter turnout, disenfranchisement and the implications for democracy. He plans to continue examining how and why minority groups coalesce to engage the political system.

James Williams, who is graduating with a B.S. in Public Administration, won a New York City Urban Fellowship, a highly selective fellowship for recent U.S. bachelor’s degree recipients, which provides $30,000 for a nine-month assignment in mayoral and city agencies. Williams intends to take the knowledge he will acquire about local government back to his native Nigeria. He previously had a CUNY Edward T. Rogowsky internship in Washington with Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn/Queens).

Another member of John Jay’s Class of 2015, Danyeli Rodriguez Del Orbe, won a two-year, $38,000 Community Fellowship from the Immigrant Justice Corps. An undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic who became an honors student and John Jay-Vera Fellow, Del Orbe was cofounder and president of John Jay Dreamers, an organization that supports legalizing the status of children who were brought to this country as children. She has also interned at local immigrant rights organizations.

Four John Jay undergraduates have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships for summer 2015 study abroad. They are Tia Daniels, John Fleurimond, Palakpreet Kaur and Hadassah Yisrael.

Two John Jay students have been chosen as part of the 2015 class of the Jeannette K. Watson Fellows, a three-year program that provides paid summer internships and mentoring to promising undergraduates the prestigious educational-opportunity initiative sponsored by the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Joining the fellowship program this year are Kadeem Robinson, a sophomore majoring in Political Science, and Stacy Aguilar, a freshman in Macaulay Honors College at John Jay, who is majoring in Forensic Psychology. 

An English major with a minor in Film Studies, as well as an Honors Program student and Peer Ambassador at John Jay, Simonne Isaac received a 2014 Scholarship Award from the Education Fund of the Women’s Forum of New York. The Education Fund scholarship provides $10,000 in student support to help mature women fulfill their potential through the pursuit of an undergraduate college education and enhance their capacity for meaningful community service.

Additional award recipients include Alex Levitz, who received a John H. Stamler Memorial Scholarship, and Frantzy Clement, who received a Presidential Management Fellowship at John Jay. Four students received certificates from the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women Spring Break Role Model Program: Ariana Castillo, Benedicta Darteh, Jasmine Rasheed and Stacy Vargas.

GRADUATE PROGRAM ACCEPTANCES

John Jay’s talented and passionate students are gaining recognition for their intellect and impact across the country and around the world. The College’s rigorous curriculum, distinguished by its innovative approach of educating for justice, uniquely prepares students to compete for prestigious fellowship, graduate programs and awards.

Click here to view the list of important and prestigious institutions at which John Jay students were accepted.