Monday, November 2

SU student Sally Ross selected as HBCU All-Star Scholar by White House Initiative

Sally Ross, standing on the right, poses for a photo with her mentor, SU Ag Center Research Scientist Janana Snowden, outside the Southern University Ag Center.  

SU Ag Center’s Urban Forestry program produces a shining star
                                                                 
Baton Rouge, La. – Baton Rouge native, Sally Ross, always knew it was her destiny to attend Southern University A&M College.

That destiny was taken a step further when she was offered a scholarship and open arms into the Urban Forestry program.

“It was a field that I was most interested in,” Ross said.

As a senior and in August 2015, Ross was selected to be a 2015 HBCU All-Star Scholar by the White House Initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Ross was ranked 83rd out of 450 students that applied for the selection. Becoming an 18% of university students that won the award.

“I am very honored to be the 2015 HBCU All-Star for Southern University,” Ross said. “As the HBCU All-Star, I will be able to showcase the advantages of an HBCU education, represent the interests of HBCU students and achieve dreams in the public and educational realm.”

Before her accolades, Ross was a student at Glen Oaks High School in the Upward Bound Program when she met a woman of inspiration, Janana Snowden, Ph.D. of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, in which widened Ross’s expectations.  

“She was someone young and pursuing something amazing and I was attached to her. I really admire and respect her,” Ross said.

In the program, Ross lived on the campus throughout the summer and latched onto Snowden; and since then, Ross has matriculated inside the university and has become an adult.

“Southern taught me how to be an adult and an adult that wants to make a change in the world,” she added. “But I wish I could show the Agricultural Center the work I have done outside of campus.”

Ross has worked as an intern for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for three consecutive summers since 2013. While there, she has worked in the field of Forestry Management.

After graduating in December, Ross wants to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy at Southern University.

Ross said she doesn’t have a dream job because she didn’t want to minimalize her options as a hard worker.

This semester Ross said that it’s her time to shine.

(Article written by Felix Cunningham III, SU Ag Center Intern.)

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