Ella is a member of the class of 2025 from Columbia, Maryland and is pursuing a degree in African American Studies with a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Ella was compelled to pursue AAS because of how the department has encouraged her to make meaningful connections between her identity and academics. She also knew that the relationships she formed with other students, professors, and staff were unique to the AAS department. Some of Ella’s research areas of interest include the phenomenon of passing, literature by Black female authors about the Black female experience, and the construction of Black identity, especially for people who are mixed race. Ella has received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence for her academic work.

Outside of class, Ella worked with Art Hx as a research assistant during the summer of 2023, creating pedagogical materials focused on the history of Black maternal health in the United States by using artwork and archival material to highlight the intersections between medicine, race, and colonialism. She has also worked as a Princeton RISE fellow for Let’s Get Ready, a college access and success nonprofit, and as Research Assistant with the Princeton Baby Lab. Ella is currently a part of the Princeton University Mentoring Program, a member of the AAS undergraduate board of advisers, and a community action orientation leader.

In the future, Ella hopes to apply what she has learned in the AAS department to explore the fields of museum studies and mixed race studies.