Driven to serve: MSU seniors receive national student affairs honor

Nick Harris (Photo by Russ Houston)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Two seniors in ��Ƶ’s College of Arts and Sciences are being recognized by the nation’s leading association for the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs profession.

Nicolas D. “Nick” Harris of Millington, Tennessee, and Brittany A. Stansel of Corinth have been accepted into the prestigious NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program (NUFP) for the 2017-18 academic year.

NUFP seeks to increase the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs and/or higher education. This includes but is not limited to individuals of racial and ethnic-minority backgrounds, those with a documented disability, and those who identify as LGBTQ.

MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Young Hyatt is serving as Harris’ mentor throughout the program, while Assistant Vice President for Multicultural Affairs Ra’Sheda Forbes is advising Stansel.

Brittany Stansel (Photo by Russ Houston)

“Nick is one of our most outstanding student leaders who has contributed in many ways to student life. He already possesses many of the attributes of a great student affairs professional, and the NUFP experience will help him solidify his career choice and find the right graduate program where he will take the next step in this exciting journey,” Hyatt said.

A communication major concentrating in public relations, Harris is a former resident adviser and Residence Hall Association president who served this past summer as an MSU Orientation Leader.

A current Freshman Navigator and chief of staff for the Student Association, Harris also is an active member of the university’s Montgomery Leadership Program and Men of Excellence and Alumni Delegates organizations, all of which he said “have shown me student affairs is for me.”

“I am really busy,” he said with a smile, “but I enjoy what I do along with the experiences that have given me the skills and confidence to be a better leader. I have truly grown to love ��Ƶ because I can impact students’ lives and help them grow.”

In addition to continued biweekly meetings with Hyatt, Harris said he is looking forward to networking opportunities with peers and advisers at the 2018 NASPA Annual Conference taking place March 3-7 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Following his graduation from MSU, Harris plans to pursue a master’s in higher education with an emphasis in student affairs and one day become a dean of students.

Like Harris, Stansel is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, MSU’s largest academic unit. A psychology major with a pre-law minor, she has served as a mentor for the university’s Peers Assisting with Students (PAWS) program, of which Forbes is the adviser.

Stansel said Hyatt and Forbes “are strong female leaders who are motivating me to do more because of how busy and passionate they are. They give me the drive to be that inspiration for somebody else, especially first-generation college students and people with disabilities.”

Stansel is a member of Psi Chi—The International Honor Society in Psychology—and vice president of mentoring for the university’s Promise Program. After completing her undergraduate studies, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in higher education administration with particular emphasis on student affairs and counseling.

“Brittany has been instrumental in working to help first-generation college students, low-income students and students from marginalized communities,” said Forbes, who also serves as director of MSU’s Holmes Cultural Diversity Center. “She truly is a dynamic student, and I am looking forward to working with her as she contributes to the world of academia and higher education.”

For more on the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program, visit .

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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