UTA students earn transformative D.C. fellowships

Seven undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Arlington headed to Washington, D.C., for a hands-on program to live, learn and intern in the nation’s capital.

Founded in 2001, The Archer Center is the Washington, D.C., campus of the University of Texas System. Students accepted to its Archer Fellowship Program move to the Capitol Hill area of Washington to live with other Archer Fellows and take courses taught by UT faculty and policy experts. The scholars also participate in a full-time internship that aligns with their academic and professional goals.

“The Archer Fellowship Program is an amazing opportunity for any student in any major, as federal policy impacts all of us,” said Bobbie Brown, director of advanced placement in UTA’s Honors College. “It is designed to educate the next generation of leaders in public service and federal policymaking in a very experiential way. Archer Fellowship alumni will tell you that it is a truly transformative experience.”

The fall 2023 fellows were:

• Lance Bokinskie, a senior political science major from Truckee, California, who attended Tahoe-Truckee High School before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. He now serves in the Texas National Guard.
• Graciela Hargrave, a senior interdisciplinary studies major who attended Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield.
• Caroline King, a junior nursing major who attended Wichita Falls High School in Wichita Falls.
• Shazmyne Rubio, a senior political science major who attended L.D. Bell High School in Hurst.

The spring 2024 fellows are:

• Jeremiah Joseph, a junior who is double-majoring in clinical and applied physiology and philosophy and ethics who attended Hebron High School in Carrollton.
• Drew Shaw, a senior who is double-majoring in journalism and political science from Waxahachie.
• Dylan Torres, a senior political science major.

“UTA has opened numerous doors for me, and I am especially grateful for the opportunity I had to live, work and study in Washington, D.C., as a fall 2023 Archer Fellow,” said Rubio, who interned with the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The experience deepened my passion for international relations.”

King joined the Archer Fellowship in fall 2023 thanks to scholarships from the Honors College, the Archer Alumni Association and the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

“While interning at the American Public Health Association, I traveled to Atlanta for a four-day conference, where I met many passionate public health professionals and discovered my own passion for public health,” she said. “After graduation, my goal is to attend UT Southwestern’s MPH/MD program to become an obstetrician.”