For Rita Asiedu ’07, St. Lawrence was a welcome change from city life. Born in Ghana and brought up in New York City, the graduate of Jane Addams Vocational High School in The Bronx has kept herself extremely busy at St. Lawrence. Rita has been an events organizer for the Black Students Union, a HEOP (Higher Education Opportunity Program) mentor, and an admissions tour guide. She has performed in the Dance Ensemble, sung with the Gospel Choir, worked at Gunnison Chapel and been a member of the Economic Honor Council. Last semester, Rita, an English major and government minor, enrolled in St. Lawrence’s Program in London. There she discovered her research interest, which she pursued in summer 2006 after being selected as a McNair Scholar under the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Award Program, which is aimed at encouraging students in underrepresented groups to pursue doctoral studies. Rita’s research title is “Black and Jewish Alliance during the Civil Rights Movement.” While in London, she attended a Holocaust Day program and started wondering “if there was a connection between how the Jews and the Blacks dealt with their respective suppressions,” she explains.  She worked with faculty in the English and History departments and staff in HEOP. Thinking beyond graduation, Rita is looking into law schools or graduate programs in African studies.