Ashley Hodges is a member of the Class of 2021 from Fredericksburg, VA. At Princeton, she is concentrating in African-American Studies with a Teacher’s Prep certificate. As a freshman, Ashley wanted to study politics with the hopes of becoming a politician. Although she isn’t sure if the dream of being a politician is completely behind her, she is sure that she has found her home away from home in the African American Studies department. She was immediately drawn to the department because of its small, familial size and the love and support she felt from her professors. Ultimately, Ashley felt as though the department valued her academic strengths long before she was able to recognize them within herself.

On campus, Ashley is a member of the Undergraduate Board of Advisers for the African American Studies department, a Mellon Mays Fellow, an intern at The Carl A. Fields Center, the Editor-in-Chief of The Stripes Magazine, and a tutor for Petey Greene. After Princeton, Ashley hopes to enroll in a graduate program and obtain her Ph.D., ultimately becoming a professor. During her time at Princeton and after, she wants to remain engaged in social justice activism in order to be a part of the larger black freedom struggle.