13 May 2020

Five SAU Students Secure Summer Positions with NC Governor’s Office Internship Initiative

The purpose of the North Carolina HBCU Internship Program is to connect students matriculating at North Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with the state’s largest companies. The students are able to gain work experience that will increase their competitiveness in the job market and will give them access to industry hiring professionals to better position themselves for future job opportunities.

The NC Governor’s Office HBCU Internship Initiative connects students with Fortune 500 companies. The goal of the Governor’s Office through this initiative is to increase the capacity of our universities to provide opportunities for students in the private sector thus retaining the talent in the state of NC.

The Department of Career Exploration, Mentoring and Professional Development at Saint Augustine’s University ascertains a commitment from organizations to interview interested students; then vets the students prior to making the connection for a possible job match.

Saint Augustine’s University was granted three slots for 8-week program for 2020. However, we were issued two additional slots to make available to our students. As a result of the change in the SAU graduation date due to the global pandemic, the Governor’s Office Initiative allowed graduating seniors to participate in the program for Summer 2020.

“With the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the operations of our universities, this year required a great deal more coordination for these students to successfully complete the interview processes,” says Dr. Trish Harleston, Interim Director of the Career Exploration, Mentoring and Professional Development department. “We are certainly proud of how they have consistently maintained communication and remained virtually engaged with the Career Exploration, Mentoring and Professional Development department in their pursuit of and commitment to securing this opportunity.”  

The following students have received internship offers from these industries:

Bercario Bodie – School of Business Graduating Senior – Intern with Red Hat

Lavar Stubbs – School of Business Graduating Senior – Intern with State Farm

Liane Moyo –School of Business Junior – Intern with Lenovo

Mareyah Washington – School of Business Junior – Intern with Lenovo

Tinashe Kucherera – Engineering Mathematics Junior – Intern with Lenovo

Please join us as we congratulate these students for being selected to work with this initiative for 2020. We hope that this will be a valuable experience as these SAU students prepare for a successful future.