Angelina Jenkins, Assistant Director of the Mosaic Center, Advances to Ph.D. Candidacy

Last month, Angelina Jenkins, assistant director of The Mosaic: The Center for Cultural Diversity passed her comprehensive exam for the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy (HESA) Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). 

Jenkins fulfilled her requirements for candidacy in spring 2026 with her research competency manuscript, Rest and Production of Asian and Asian American Graduate Students in HESA Programs. She will present this work alongside Preaching Rest While Practicing Burnout: Exploring Rest Among Racially/Ethnically Minoritized HESA Graduate Students, coordinated by Dr. Christopher S. Travers and the Communion Lab Research Team, at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference in November. Grounded in liberatory, non-Western, and decolonial praxis, Jenkins’ scholar-practitionership informs both her academic research and her daily work within The Mosaic Center and the broader student affairs field.

Her broader research agenda examines Asian American college student identity development, cultural identity exploration through popular media and during the COVID-19 pandemic, multiracial and multicultural experiences, and the lives of student caregivers. Building on these interests, Jenkins’ proposed dissertation will explore how Asian American student caregivers navigate cultural and sociopolitical pressures, foster a sense of belonging on campus, and engage with institutional support structures. 

A double alumna of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Jenkins earned her M.A. in student affairs and higher education, as well as her B.A. degree in psychology with a certificate in Asian Studies.