News and Highlights

Fall 2010 Fellows Explore Washington, D.C.

Pictured above: The 20th class of Bill Archer Fellows and Congressman Bill Archer enjoy a day of fellowship.

Today marks the one month anniversary of the Fall 2010 Archer Fellow arrival in Washington, D.C., and these 32 outstanding University of Texas System students are exploring the various cultural and special events that our nation's capital has to offer. Over the past month, the Fellows have toured the East Wing of The White House and attended constituent coffees held by both U.S. Senator John Cornyn and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Some Fellows participated in the first Annual "Fashion’s Night Out" in historic Georgetown, where more than 80 Georgetown stores, restaurants and salons opened for extended hours and hosted an evening full of spectacular events. The Fall 2010 Archer Fellows and Congressman Bill Archer also enjoyed a picnic in Rock Creek Park, where they marveled at the lush greenery that is considered a Washington, D.C., treasure. This week, the Fellows attended a Washington Nationals baseball game at Nationals Stadium and witnessed the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the 9th inning with a walk off home run. In addition to these exciting activities, the Fellows are excelling in their full-time internships and their weekly classes. We look forward to what the coming months will hold for this impressive class of Archer Fellows. View the bios, pictures and internship sites of the Fall 2010 Archer Fellows online.

Fellowship Program Applications Available Online

Do you know someone who is interested in applying to live, learn and intern in Washington, D.C., through The Archer Center?  Applications for the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Bill Archer Fellowship Program and the Summer 2011 Graduate Program in Public Policy are now available.

The application deadline for the Graduate Program in Public Policy is Friday, November 19, 2010 and the application deadline for The Bill Archer Fellowship Program is Friday, February 18, 2011.  Interested students should visit www.archercenter.org to learn more or contact Archer Center staff at archer@utsystem.edu for more information.

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Alumni Spotlight

Todd Hill Selected as Driver in Presidential Motorcade

Todd Hill, a Spring 2010 Archer Fellow from UT Arlington, was selected by the Texas Democratic Party to serve as a driver in President Barack Obama's motorcade during the President's visit to Dallas on August 16th. Todd, the founder and president of a Political Action Committee, and member of the New Leaders for Bill White for Governor Council, has been involved in local and state politics for ten years. "Being selected as a driver in the President's motorcade is a tremendous honor with a lot of responsibility. To know that my hard work and dedication to politics would be rewarded in such a way is really meaningful and I'll never forget having met the President of the United States." Todd is completing his senior year at UT Arlington and will graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science this December.

Pictured above: Spring 2010 Archer Fellow Todd Hill in front of the Presidential Limousine.

Archer Fellowship Program Alumni Accolades

The Archer Center is very proud of our Alumni and their academic and professional accomplishments, so we want to highlight our outstanding Alumni again this month. Archer Fellow Alumni are in the first month of graduate programs in law, public policy, and other fields of study ranging from medicine to political science. As has been the case each year, Archer Fellows have been accepted to some of our nation’s most prestigious institutions. Take a look at where some of our Alumni are enrolled this fall:

Rachel Almaraz, UT San Antonio (Spring 2009) – The University of Maryland School of Law

Yousef Arar, UT Austin (Spring 2010) – The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Medical Degree and Masters in Public Health

Vanessa Bilanceri, UT Austin (Spring 2002) –  Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico City, Masters in Business Administration

Maya Bouali, UT Dallas (Spring 2009) – The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSA), Masters in Public Management and Governance

Anneliese Bustillo, UT Austin (Fall 2008) – The George Washington University, Masters in Library Science

Carlos Castañeda, UT San Antonio (Spring 2010) – The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Megan Newman Coker, UT Dallas (Fall 2008) – The University of Virginia School of Law; received full tuition scholarship

Kelly Combs, UT Permian Basin (Fall 2009) – Al Akhawayn University (Morocco), Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy

Nikki Davenport, UT Austin (Spring 2007) – The University of California at Berkeley School of Law

Larry Dechant, UT Austin (Spring 2010) – The University of Southern California, Masters in Broadcast Journalism

Emily Einsohn, UT Austin (Fall 2004) – The University of Texas at Austin, Dual Masters in Social Works and Public Affairs

Bryan Law, UT Austin (Fall 2006) – Austin Seminary, Master in Theological Studies

Caryn Malone, UT San Antonio (Fall 2008) – Texas Southern University School of Law

Kimberly Miller, UT Dallas (Spring 2009) – Oklahoma City University School of Law

Jennifer Monies, UT Austin (Spring 2001)  – The University of Central Oklahoma, Masters in Secondary Education

David Nibert, UT Austin (Fall 2006) – The University of Virginia School of Law

Daniel Noll, UT Austin (Fall 2005) – The University of Texas at Austin, Dual Masters in Energy and Earth Resources and Public Affairs

Jonathan Nomamiukor, UT San Antonio (Spring 2009) - Harvard Law School

Ezinne Okpo, UT San Antonio (Spring 2010) – Georgetown University Law Center

Diana Ramirez, UT Austin (Spring 2004) – The University of Texas at El Paso, Dual Masters in Business Administration and Public Administration

Justin Rhudy, UT Austin (Spring 2007) – The College of William and Mary School of Law

Michelle Robinson, UT Austin (Fall 2005) – The University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD in Sociology and Community and Environmental Sociology

Frank Rodriguez, UT El Paso (Fall 2009) – The University of Texas at Dallas, Masters in Public Policy

Kacy Shindler, UT Austin (Fall 2008) – The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Katie Short, UT Austin (Fall 2004) – The University of California at Berkeley, Masters in Public Policy

Awards and Fellowship Program Acceptances

In addition to graduate program acceptances, Archer Fellow Alumni have received top honors and awards and have been selected into competitive Fellowship and Public Service Programs around the nation and the world.

Vanessa Bilanceri, UT Austin (Spring 2002) – Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Mexico City

Kelly Combs, UT Permian Basin (Fall 2009) – Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Morocco

Robert Garcia, UT Austin (Fall 2007) – Stanford Law Review

Luis Gonzalez, UT Austin (Spring 2006) – Presidential Management Fellowship in Washington, D.C.

Samia Hossain, UT Dallas (Spring 2009) – Fulbright Scholars Program in Cairo, Egypt

Jackie Markovich, UT Austin (Spring 2010) – Teach for America Corps in the Mississippi Delta Region

Robin McIlhenny, UT San Antonio (Fall 2007) – University of London, Queen Mary School of Law, Fall Semester 2010 International Law Program

Mitra Miri, UT San Antonio (Spring 2007) – National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship and Ford Foundation Predoctoral Research Fellowship

Eva Romero, UT Austin (Fall 2008) – Teach for America Corps in Houston, Texas

Gordon Rooney, UT Austin (Fall 2008) – City Year AmeriCorps Program in South Carolina

Notable Accomplishments of 2010 Graduate Fellows

This fall, the Archer Center’s Inaugural Graduate Fellows in Public Policy are continuing their studies at their home campuses, traveling abroad for internship experiences or embarking on their careers in Texas and in Washington, D.C. Below are a few examples of where our Graduate Fellows are this fall and beyond. Several Fellows received continued employment offers from their Graduate Program internship sites:

Kristine Gloria, UT Austin – Offered full-time position with New America Foundation beginning in January 2011

Stephanie Phillips, UT Austin – Continued employment offer with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

Sarah Sayles, UT San Antonio – Offered position at Public Allies San Antonio, a division of AmeriCorps

Tyler Weiland, UT San Antonio – Fall 2010 Internship at the U.S. State Department in Brussels, Belgium

Alesia Za Gara, UT El Paso – Continued employment with the National Parks Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Continued Updates Appreciated!

Thank you to the alumni who sent in updates via our online link below. If you have a new job or have received an award or scholarship, we want to hear from you! Please continue to keep us updated by visiting the Archer Fellow Alumni Association online update page.

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