Diop Russell, C'2022, is a junior English major and a film studies & visual culture minor at Spelman College. She is an arts-oriented scholar destined to change the world through filmmaking, creative writing, and professorship.
Russell analyzes films through a Black queer feminist lens to find liberated and complex ways to depict marginalized people on screen. As the Spelman English Department Film Club project manager, she hosts monthly film discussions to engage with AUC faculty and students. Russell furthers her intellectual curiosity as a distinct member of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society, and the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program.
She also plays an active role in her Spelman community. She is a peer tutor in Spelman’s Comprehensive Writing Center, a Social Justice Associate, and the head archivist of the official Spelman student podcast, The Blue Record. She will continue her scholar-activism as a UNCF Mellon Fellow and later empower young scholars as an undergraduate professor. As the 38th Miss Spelman College, Russell will implement her platform, “Move with Ease,” and encourages students to release their worries and doubts by creating a culture of compassion, care and community.