UM Graduate Student Earns Summer Internship at Library of Congress

By Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi

A University of Mississippi doctoral student has been awarded a prestigious internship this summer as a junior fellow at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Roger Davis Jr., a first-year Ph.D. student in higher education, was among 42 people chosen as junior fellows from more than 700 applicants.

“When notified about my selection, I was very excited,” said the Anguilla native who serves as a graduate assistant in the UM Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. 

“This honor will allow me to further develop and maintain academic and professional opportunities that will increase my knowledge and understanding of scholarly research and support my academic journey in the Department of Higher Education.”

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States and extensive materials from around the world on-site and online. Its Junior Fellows Program allows interns to witness the extensive work done at the library.

The program, which runs from May 29 to Aug. 3, gives students opportunities to work on projects across the library’s divisions.

“Roger is intelligent, sincere, hardworking and doing excellent work in our division,” said Yashwant Prakash Vyas, director of diversity education and strategic initiatives. “He is an open-minded, agile and collaborative leader. 

“Given his experience, academic training, as well as his involvement in various national and international education related organizations, I have every confidence that Roger will excel as a 2022 Library of Congress junior fellow.”

Davis is working with library curators and specialists with the Enhancing Access: Higher Education project in the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. Some of his job assignments include documenting the history of the National Book Festival, producing a video on the festival’s importance to help promote it and assisting during the festival’s planning process.

He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership with a concentration in student affairs and higher education, and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, both from Mississippi State University.

For more information on the Junior Fellows Summer Internship Program at the Library of Congress, call 202-707-0698 or visit https://www.loc.gov/item/internships/junior-fellows-program/.