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UAlbany Student Wins National Black Studies Essay Award

Contact: Lisa James Goldsberry (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 31, 2004) -- Candice M. Rowser, an Africana Studies master's degree candidate at the University at Albany, received the second place prize for the Graduate Division Student Essay from the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS). The award was presented during the 28th annual conference of the NCBS Student Awards Luncheon on March 19 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rowser's paper "The New Agenda for the Pan African Congress of 2006: Future Prospects for African Economic Advancement" was selected from among numerous submissions by Africana master's students across the nation. The paper uncovers reasons for Africa's economic problems, caused primarily by foreign debt, and outlines a recovery agenda for the new Pan African Congress to use as a solution to the problem.

Rowser received her B.A. in history with a special focus on Africana history from St. Lawrence College in 2002, and is completing her final semester in UAlbany's Africana master's program. She has been accepted into the Ph.D. history program at Temple University for fall 2004 and aspires to become a professor of Africana Studies, specializing in the history of African women in politics, African political economy, and African socio-politics.

While a student in the Department of Africana Studies, Rowser volunteered with the department's "Save Africa From AIDS" (SAFA) campaign, served as a graduate assistant for the Africana Families and History of Civil Rights courses, and after a transformational visit to Ghana during the department's summer 2003 Study Abroad Program, started working to raise funds for a variety of community-based projects such as the Mole Day Care Center and Elementary School in Damongo, Ghana.

She currently serves as vice president of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO), and as chair of the Nefer Rohu Africana Graduate and Professional Student Organization.

The National Council for Black Studies was established in 1975 by African American scholars who recognized the need to formalize the study of the African World experience, as well as expand and strengthen academic units and community programs devoted to this endeavor. Today, NCBS works to establish standards of excellence and provide development guidance for Black Studies programs in institutions of higher education.