2018 OHIO Graduate Joselyn Hines
by Kristin Distel
Joselyn Hines, a psychology and pre-medicine major and recent Ohio University graduate, received the 2018 John Newton Templeton Outstanding Senior Leader Award at OHIO’s Leadership Awards Gala. The award is given each year in honor of John Newton Templeton, an 1828 alum of Ohio University and the first African-American student to graduate from the institution.
Hines was chosen as an award recipient for her diligent work with a variety of campus organizations. She served as president of the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students, chaplain and sergeant-at-arms of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and chair of the Health Promotion Committee, and president of Anointed Ministries.
Helping Fellow Students Succeed with MAPS
The goal of the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS) is to ensure that underrepresented minority students have access to the resources they need in order to meet their career goals.
MAPS group with Dr. Rebecca Grant of OSU Wexner Medical Center
For example, Hines arranged for several Columbus-area physicians to mentor MAPS students and counsel them on how to set and achieve goals in the healthcare field.
“Without mentorship, many of us don’t know what steps to take,” Hines explains. “A lot of us are first-generation college students, and we need guidance,” she adds.
Under Hines’s leadership, MAPS students also received mentorship from the Student National Medical Association. Volunteers from this organization gave MAPS students a timeline that explained when to take various courses and the MCAT.
Hines also worked closely with OHIO’s Career Leadership and Development Center to ensure that MAPS students received training in leadership skills and job market preparedness. Through the CLDC, all MAPS students earned leadership certificates, in addition to attending job application and curriculum vitae workshops.
“All of these things will help us stand out when we enter the job market,” Hines explains.
Hines was also instrumental in re-chartering MAPS. When she began studying at OHIO, the campus’s chapter was inactive. Hines worked with two other students, Deana Lewis and Abi Morolayo, to reactivate the charter on campus.
“Our MAPS charter started as pre-medicine organization,” she explains, “but I realized many of my friends are not interested in medical school, but they are interested in healthcare more broadly. I worked to ensure that MAPS involves all health-focused students, not just pre-medicine students.”
Promoting Physical and Mental Health
Hines also serves as the chaplain and sergeant-at-arms of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (Delta Phi chapter) and chair of the organization’s Health Promotion Committee.
Created in 1908 at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first African-American sorority founded by and for African-American women. OHIO’s chapter, which hosts programs for OHIO students and performs community service, was founded in 1965.
Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Delta Phi Chapter (from left: Joselyn Hines, Victoria Lewis, Hannah Britton and Diarra Ndiaye
“Health care promotion is one of our target initiatives,” Hines explains. As committee chair, her duties include coordinating wellness activities. In Spring 2018, the sorority hosted an event called “Pink Goes Red” in which a Zumba instructor led classes and promoted cardiovascular health.
Hines also ensures that the organization’s wellness initiatives include mental health awareness.
“In the African-American community, a stigma surrounds mental health issues,” Hines states. “Some of us have been discouraged from seeking mental health support, and going to a counselor can be ‘taboo,’” she adds.
To help counter this issue, Hines asked a counselor from OHIO’s Counseling and Psychological Services office to visit the sorority and talk about mental health and the services that CPS provides.
“I want everyone to know that here on OHIO’s campus, there are people who are willing to help. I try to connect students to those resources,” Hines says.
Encouraging Spiritual Wellness
Hines has also served as the president of Anointed Ministries, a student-run Christian organization on campus.
“We focus on spreading the love of Christ to all people,” Hines explains.
Anointed Ministries Choir at their Spring Concert
Part of the group’s outreach includes a weekly Bible study that draws approximately fifty students to each meeting. Overall, approximately seventy-five students are involved in Anointed Ministries.
Under Hines’s leadership, the organization also features a mime ministry and a successful, popular choir. “The choir performs widely in the area,” she notes.
Research and Career Plans
Hines is currently at work with Dr. Elizabeth Beverly on an exciting and important research project. Beverly is studying the experience of underrepresented minorities in pre-medicine studies.
“Many minority students enter their college studies as pre-medicine majors, but by their second or third year, that number decreases significantly,” Hines notes. Beverly’s project investigates the reasons for this shift.
“We’d like to understand what is going on with these students,” Hines notes. “We want to know why they go from having a dream of attending medical school to deciding that they can’t meet that goal.”
The team is currently conducting interviews to learn about the experience of pre-medicine students.
“We want to know what resources they need to succeed,” Hines remarks. “Since I wanted some experience with conducting concrete research, I’m especially excited to help with this project.”
Hines, who recently took the MCAT, plans to participate in the Summer Scholars Program at OHIO’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine while applying for medical school. Ideally, after completing her studies, she would like to practice either anesthesiology or oncology.
Models of Mentorship
In part, Hines attributes her success and leadership abilities to the mentorship and assistance she has received from OHIO faculty and staff.
“I was very close to [Alden electronic acquisitions librarian] Anita Grant, and to Dr. Shari Clarke, the former Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion,” Hines states. “Brandi Baker in OHIO’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine has also been very helpful both to me and to the MAPS organization.”
“I’m also so grateful for Dr. Winsome Chunnu-Brayda,” Hines adds. Chunnu-Brayda is the Associate Director of OHIO’s Multicultural Center. “She’s just awesome, and she is always looking out for us,” Hines says.
Hines has used these models of mentorship to help develop her own sense of leadership. One of these forms of outreach included serving as an orientation leader during her sophomore year for the Bobcat Student Orientation team.
Hines recalls that when she attended her own OHIO orientation as a prospective student, she noticed that African-American students were underrepresented among the Bobcat Student Orientation team. “I remember going back to the hotel and saying to my mom, ‘There was no one who looked like me,’” Hines explains.
As an orientation leader, she was able to help minority students acclimate to campus and classes.
“I’ve met students and parents who say, ‘Thank you; you helped us.’ One parent even sent me a care package. I was trying to give them the tips that I needed. I’m so glad I did that. I’m grateful to have been involved with orientation.”
Leaving a Legacy
Though Hines has been involved in a wide variety of activities and organizations on campus, MAPS, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Anointed Ministries hold a special place for her.
Hines receives Outstanding Senior Leader Award from President M. Duane Nellis
“I wanted to build them up to a place where they can stand on their own. I wanted to create a legacy at OHIO so that when I graduated, other people could join these organizations and carry on where I’ve left off.”
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