Emma Crouch is a junior Tip Allan Scholar from Saltillo, Mississippi. Emma is majoring in Political Science and Public Relations with a minor in Psychology. While furthering her academic career at MSU, Emma has been involved in several organizations on campus. She is an active member of Roadrunner, Brickfire Mentoring Program, College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors, Fashion Board, Public Relations Student Society of America, and the Pre-Law Society. Emma is also a Panhellenic sorority woman where she has served as the Director of Member Retention and Director of Social Media for her chapter. Over the 2022 summer, Emma worked as an intern in the Office of Congressman Trent Kelly in Washington DC where she focused on tasks in Foreign Affairs and Communications.
Laney Hulbert is a sophomore John C. Stennis Scholar.
Chloe Jackson is a junior John C. Stennis Scholar, and a Bill Collins Scholar.
Jessie James is a senior Tip Allen Scholar who participated in a Washington D.C. internship in the Summer of 2022.
Ryan Jarratt, our first Kris Bhansali Scholar, graduated in August of 2022 with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy with minors in Economics, International Studies, and Pre-Law. He served the student body as the President Pro Tempore of the Student Association Senate, provided outreach and campus tours to prospective MSU students as an MSU Roadrunner with the Office of Admissions and Scholarships, competed at debate tournaments throughout the southeastern United States with the MSU Speech and Debate Team, and worked as a student employee for the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. Ryan was an MSU Presidential Endowed Scholar, a William A. Demmer Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and an MSU Spirit of State Award recipient. Ryan has formerly interned as a research apprentice with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and as a writer with the Stennis Center for Public Service for their journal, Public Service Review. He also worked with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the policy and communications branch of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID). During his senior year, Ryan defended his Undergraduate Honors Thesis investigating connections between anti-government protests and violence against journalists, which was based on research conducted alongside PSPA Assistant Professor Dr. Benjamin Tkach. Ryan spent this past summer studying International Law at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, and he is currently spending a gap year working with a bipartisan lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. He intends to begin law school in the fall of 2023.
Amanda Kronenberger is a senior Tip Allen Scholar. She worked with the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations as a Demmer Scholar in the summer of 2022.
Caroline Makamson is a junior Jason Shelton Scholar.
Rebekkah Malone is a senior Bill Collins Scholar.
Shivangi Nakoom is a senior Tip Allen Scholar. She is President Pro Tempore of the MSU Student Association. In the summer of 2022, she was 1 of 8 individuals chosen for the highly coveted Georgetown University Investigative Internship program in Washington DC. She worked under the criminal justice clinic primarily on post-conviction work such as IRAA ( Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act) and Compassionate Release cases.
Ann Olivia Radicioni is a junior John C. Stennis Scholar and a Marty Wiseman Scholar from Clinton, Mississippi. During her time at Clinton High School, she was the lead guitarist of Attaché Show Choir, which consistently ranks as the number one show choir in the nation. Ann Olivia also served as President of multiple organizations, including Model United Nations Security Council, History Club, Crown Club, and Anchor Club. At Mississippi State, she has had the honor of furthering her extracurricular and academic involvement. Ann Olivia is a Presidential Endowed Scholar and effective member of the Student Association. Through student government, Ann Olivia is both a Campus Wide Senator and the Director of Health and Wellness. In the 60th session of the Student Association Senate, she singlehandedly created and passed a bill ensuring free period products in major MSU bathrooms. Furthermore, she devised a legislative plan for student mental health days. Ann Olivia’s further club involvement includes Delta Gamma Sorority, New Maroon Camp, and InterGreek Committee. She is a leader in her sorority, and she was awarded both MSU’s Panhellenic New Member of the Year Award and Delta Gamma’s Model New Member Award. Her career goals are ultimately to learn, discuss, and write about international policy for the rest of her life (hopefully in a southern academic institution), and she looks forward to growing as a John C. Stennis Scholar!
Mia Robertson is a Senior Presidential-Endowed Scholar, John C. Stennis Scholar, and Truman Scholar Finalist majoring in Political Science and Philosophy with minors in Pre-Law and Sociology. Currently, Mia works as a Speech and Debate Program Assistant for the Stennis Center for Public Service. With hopes of expanding access to Speech and Debate to underserved school districts and communities, Mia has used this position to create free guides that equip coaches to lead successful teams. She also worked as a Legal Intern with The Bail Project where she identified and bailed out Mississippians in pretrial status. Over the 2021 summer, Mia worked as a Legal Intern in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, Office of the Public Defender where she assisted with criminal cases and completed an individual research project on risk assessment tools. Mia is the Founder and President of BARS, an MSU student organization dedicated to criminal justice. In the MSU Student Association Cabinet, Mia serves as a Director of Community and Governmental Relations where she coordinates voter registration drives on MSU’s campus. Mia also serves as the President of the MSU Speech and Debate Council, a team she has participated in for three years. During her time on the collegiate Speech and Debate circuit, Mia has earned three National Championships in IPDA Debate, making her MSU’s first national champion in Speech and Debate. Mia is also a State Champion in Persuasive Speaking and a Regional Champion in Team IPDA Debate.
Kathryn Watkins is a Dallas local and senior Haley Barbour Scholar, who has also been awarded multiple Irving Police Department scholarships. Through the generosity of not only the Haley Barbour Scholarship, but also the Pat Mathers Scholarship Foundation, Andrew Esparza Foundation Scholarship, and KCUMC Scholarship, she has been able to study Political Science with minors in Pre-Law studies and Classical Modern Literature, Latin and Greek. This past year she served as President of the Classics Club where she allotted more tutoring resources for Latin 1-3 students and pushed for members to be inducted into Eta Sigma Phi classics honor society, herself included, and worked with the faculty to begin the Outreach program through the Paideia Institute to teach Roman and Greek culture and dialect after school at the Partnership Middle School on campus. Her love for serving was fostered through volunteering at J.L. King Community Center her second year and Ronald McDonald House Charities. Other involvements include the Panhellenic community where she served as a New Member Facilitator from 2020 to 2022 and a Gamma Chi for 2021 fall recruitment, through membership in Alpha Delta Pi. Further extracurriculars consist of Pi Sigma Alpha, MSU's Pre Law-Society, and Colleges Against Cancer. This summer she worked as a Legal Intern at the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. While assigned to CCC2 (County Criminal Court No. 2), she was able to observe trials throughout the courthouse, complete trial preparation, and work with attorneys that specialized in her interests, and convene with judges to reflect on the outcome of trials..
Alexandra Williams is a freshman John C. Stennis Scholar.
Our department's John C. Stennis Scholars are named in memory of MSU alumnus John C. Stennis, who served in the United States Senate from 1947 to 1988, rising to the powerful position of President Pro Tempore of the senate and fourth in line for the presidency. Senator Stennis also served as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee and previously as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He was so respected in the senate that Congress named a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier after him, which was commissioned into service before the carrier honoring former president Harry Truman. Because John Stennis inspired Mississippians to be active in public affairs, we include our department's Bill Collins (the founding director of the Stennis Institute of Government) and Haley Barbour (our two-term governor and a formidable Stennis challenger in 1982) scholars on this webpage.
The Haley Barbour Scholars are named after a distinguished public servant and native of Yazoo City who rose to the position of Chair of the Republican National Committee. As RNC Chairman, Haley Barbour inaugurated an aggressive fundraising, public relations, and candidate assistance program that led the GOP in 1994 to majority control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. Barbour was elected Governor in the 2003 state elections, when for the first time Republicans won half of Mississippi's statewide executive offices as well as historically high percentages of state house and state senate seats. When Barbour was re-elected governor four years later, he swept his party to control of every statewide elected office with one exception.
The Bill Collins Scholars are named after a distinguished educational leader, who was the first Director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. A Bill Collins Speakership series was established in his honor in the MSU Library.
The Tip Allen Scholars are named after retired (now deceased) professor Tip H. Allen Jr., whose decades of teaching political science at MSU helped so many of our students that he was awarded the department's outstanding teaching award on two occasions. One student whom he mentored went on to become an MSU President (Dr. Malcolm Portera, who then became the Chancellor of The University of Alabama System).
The Kris Bhansali Scholars are named after retired (now deceased) professor Kris Bhansali. The scholarship supports students with a demonstrated interest in international relations, such as by pursuing study abroad programs. One of his students, Scott Ross, became a Truman Scholar, state legislator, mayor, and College Board member.
The Marty Wiseman Scholars are named after retired professor Marty Wiseman, a Mississippi native who earned four degrees at MSU and who directed the Stennis Institute of Government for two decades.
The Charles Menifield Scholars are named after former professor Charles Menifield, a Mississippi native who earned a BA in political science and an MPPA degree from MSU, and who rose to the position of academic Dean at Rutgers University.
The Jason L. Shelton Scholars are named after the former mayor of Tupelo Mississippi, who earned a B.A. in political science at MSU and was a John C. Stennis Scholar.