Congratulations are in order to Miss Taylor Dews who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Spelman College on May 15, 2022, and was recognized as one of the five valedictorians in her class (a first in the history of Spelman College)!
Taylor is the daughter of Dr. Adrian & Mrs. Terra Dews (Chesapeake, VA). Dr. Dews is a graduate of William Fleming High School. Taylor is the granddaughter of Christine Dews Quarles (Joseph, both of Roanoke); paternal grandfather (Henry Dews, deceased); and granddaughter of Linda Martin (Chesapeake).
While pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Anthropology with a minor in Spanish, Taylor was heavily involved in a plethora of academic, global, civic, and leadership activities. She studied abroad at the University of Ghana in the early summer of 2019 just after her freshman year then completed the summer as a Research Fellow in the Leadership Alliance/Mellon program at Johns Hopkins University. Her research presentation won 1st place at a National Association of African American Honors Program Conference.
Taylor embarked upon her current research as a United Negro College Fund Mellon Mays Fellow. After her sophomore year, she further worked on her research at Emory University Summer Institute. As a rising senior, while at the University of California at Berkeley Summer Scholars Sociology Program, she delved into her research prospectus focusing on pairing cultural ethnography and film studies to map the ways black women in international, black film festivals forge transnational identity politics and solidarity. During her time at Spelman, Dews was the President of Spelman’s chapter of the National Action Network, active in the Honors Program. She also represented the youth at her local church as an appointed member of their COVID-19 Task Force, a social activist. As a junior, she helped lead a group of trailblazers who advocated for struggling fellow students. As a senior, she pledged the Eta Kappa Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incand was also a Capstone Fellow for the Joseph & Evelyn Lowery Institute.
Next, Dews will embark upon a fully funded Ph.D. program in Anthropology also with a special Certificate in Culture and Media at New York University. She plans to pursue a career in both academia and the film industry. Taylor is grateful for her family, friends, prayer warriors, Spelman College professors, and all who contributed to her journey and success.
