MACON — Mercer University junior Jordan King was recently named a recipient of The Williams-Hutchins Health Equity Award for her research on refugee services in South Dakota.
The Williams-Hutchins Health Equity Award recognizes exceptional student projects from participants in the CDC John R. Lewis Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program that advance health disparity science and minority health. The students in the program attend one of seven institutions, and one student from each is selected for the award.
King, a global health and biology double-major, represented the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. She was selected by her colleagues in the program for her project titled “External Factors that Impact the Center for New Americans (CNA), CNA Case Workers, and Refugees in South Dakota.”
“This award means a lot to me because my fellow colleagues within my internship cohort voted for me to be a nominee for the award, indicating they thought highly of my research and found it interesting,” King said.
King spent two months at the Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she worked with traditional refugees and humanitarian paroles. During her time at the Center, she facilitated free swim lessons for refugee families, gave presentations during the Center’s cultural orientation program, and helped create an overview of a volunteer board for the Center.
She also conducted research on factors that impacted the Center, its case workers and the people they were serving. Her research focused on the impact of politics, understaffing and property management on the Center and proposed recommendations on how to improve the refugee agency services.
After graduation, King, from Naperville, Illinois, plans to join the Peace Corps and eventually become an infectious disease epidemiologist or social epidemiologist.
“This award was important to me because it helped to solidify my career in working with other cultures and working abroad,” she said.
King said learning from her global health professors to “approach new experiences with an open mind” and to engage with other cultures without preexisting notions helped prepare for her the program.
“Jordan is a gifted and dedicated student. Her selection for The Williams-Hutchins Health Equity Award recognizes her application of classroom learning to a real health problem,” said Dr. Chinekwu Obidoa, associate professor of global health and Africana studies. “Her selection for this award also showcases the fact that the global health studies program at Mercer is preparing her not only to understand the social, political, cultural and economic determinants of health but also helping her build intellectual and practical skills for researching how these factors shape health outcomes in diverse populations.”
King said her experience in South Dakota was “eye-opening” and gave her the opportunity to learn about the challenges refugees face when moving to America. She said she was honored to win the award and create something impactful.
“I not only wanted my research to be something others could learn from, but also something that could help bring awareness to the experiences that a refugee may face in the U.S.,” King said. “Getting an inside look at the everyday operations of a refugee agency was a significant learning experience for me, and I will forever cherish the people I met and worked with this past summer.”
