As an undergraduate student, Krystal Morgan knew she wanted to pursue a graduate degree to better understand systemic disparities in the healthcare system. Being part of the McNair Scholars program made that dream possible.
“The program helped me gain valuable hands-on qualitative research experience here at DePaul through workshops and research projects geared towards my interests," Morgan says.
The McNair Scholars program, also known as the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, was named in honor of the legendary engineer, physicist, and astronaut. A recognized expert in laser physics, McNair was selected by NASA for the space shuttle program in 1978, becoming the second African-American in space. After his tragic death in 1986 during the USS Challenger accident, Congress approved funds endowing the program to support minority, low-income, and first-generation college students interested in pursuing graduate studies. Since then, universities across the nation - including DePaul - have been proud partners of the program.
Between 1999 and 2024, over 80% of McNair participants at DePaul have enrolled in graduate programs, enabled by a curriculum that includes specialty coursework, lecture series, and hands-on research and field experiences. The program even allows students to engage in faculty-led research learning abroad, where scholars collaborate on original research projects designed to make them competitive graduate school candidates.
That's exactly what Morgan did during her own time in the program. “Through the McNair Scholars International Research Experience (IRE) program, I gained survey and panel discussion experience by traveling to the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa UADE and collaborating with other scholars and professors. In addition to hands-on research, my McNair Scholars advisors played an invaluable role in my college application process to DePaul's MPH-Social Epidemiology program, which in turn helped guide my career goals," she explains.
Morgan is well on her way to achieving those goals and continuing the groundbreaking research she began as a McNair Scholar. She presented her recently concluded study, “A Qualitative Analysis of the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study and Contemporary Issues of Iatrophobia in Black Women" at conferences at multiple universities.
“The McNair Scholars program gave me the tools to confidently present my research and allowed me to explore areas of academia I never knew existed," she shares.
You can learn more about the McNair's Scholars program and DePaul's Master of Public Health program on our website.