Left to right: Dalaila Scaife (Charles Drew University ’26), sisters Destiny and Denisha Caldwell (University of California at Los Angeles ’25), Dalyn Smith (University of Southern California ’23), Mya Beathley (University of Southern California ’26), Director of Persistence Catherine Molleno
Not pictured: Emily Nichols (Stanford University ’23)
In October, Director of Persistence Catherine Molleno visited six College Fellows – two first-years, two sophomores, two seniors – at schools in Los Angeles and San Francisco, including Charles Drew University, the only HBCU in the state. Both seniors, Dalyn Smith (University of Southern California) and Emily Nichols (Stanford), are interested in law and prepping for graduate school. California now boasts one of BRYC’s largest cohorts concentrated in a region outside the South. “Peer-to-peer networking is one way BRYC stretches persistence resources,” explained Catherine. “The more Fellows close by, the more they can lean on each other.”
