Morehouse, Spelman students visit CSNE as part of whirlwind tour

Mary Guiden

Jamal Thorne (right), Morehouse College '15 explains his research Nearly 20 students from Morehouse kicked off a tour across the country last week, starting off their spring break by marching in Selma, Alabama on the same day President Barack Obama joined civil rights leaders to commemorate the “Bloody Sunday” march.

Following the trip to Alabama, they visited a handful of universities across the country, including the University of Washington, a visit that was hosted by the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), one of 17 Engineering Research Centers across the country funded by the National Science Foundation. 

“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. went to Morehouse and we have a big focus on ethical leadership and developing young men who are transforming the world,” said Rahmelle Thompson, DVM, director of the Dr. John Hopps, Jr Defense Research Scholars Program at Morehouse, when asked to describe the Selma trip.

Visiting the University of Washington is a sentimental choice for Thompson, a Seattle native, who has been bringing the Hopps Scholars to the campus since 2007. “Our students should come to the UW because there are huge opportunities here,” she said. “My husband is a graduate of the UW School of Dentistry. I took summer courses here when I was at Spelman, so I know some of the wonderful opportunities that the University of Washington provides for its students.”

The CSNE has partnerships with three predominately minority-serving institutions, including Morehouse and Spelman colleges—both historically black institutions—and Southwestern College, a public community college in southern California.

Kristi Morgansen, associate professor in the William E. Boeing Dept. of Aeronautics & Astronautics, said the aim of the visit is to increase the number of students from underrepresented populations in graduate schools. This goal also falls in line with the National Science Foundation’s initiative to support the development of a diverse and well-prepared workforce of engineering graduates (also known as “broadening participation”).

 Jamal Thorne, who is expected to graduate from Morehouse College in a few months, served as an ambassador of sorts on this trip. He spent last summer working in the lab of Matt Reynolds, associate professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering. Thorne had this opportunity through the CSNE’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

Why should one of his classmates, or anyone for that matter, come to the UW? “You’ll never find a more nurturing place where people support whatever you want to do, no matter what it is,” he said. “You’ll meet people that actually take the time out of their day to sit down and talk with you about what your plans are and to help guide you in any way, shape or form.  I called Matt [Reynolds] the other day and told him that I wanted to do some more research. He called up his colleagues at Georgia Tech, UNC and Northwestern and told them, ‘Hey, I have a great student.’ That just opens so many doors for me.  Being here last summer, he told me, ‘Well, if you want to go into this field, these are the skills that you need, these are some resources for you. If you have any questions, just call me.’”

Thorne said being at the UW helped make him think in a more interdisciplinary manner. To that end, he’s working on developing an app that he hopes will inspire more millennials to vote in mid-term elections. As he described it, the app analyzes issues being discussed, generates 11 questions and gives you a score that reflects how you compare with your peers.

If the score is above 80 percent, you’ll know that you should vote for that person because he or she wants to address 80 percent of the things you’re passionate about. “You don’t need to know what party they are, you don’t need to know where they’re from or who they are, you just need to know they align with things you are passionate about,” he said. Thorne is taking next year off from his studies and has accepted a job at IBM. While there, he plans to apply to graduate schools—including several programs at the UW.

On the day of the visit, Senior Dorian Kandi found out that he was accepted into a mathematical finance program at the UW. “I’m definitely enjoying this day in Seattle,” he said, with a smile. “It’s my first time on the West Coast. Aside from the jet lag, everything is nice.”