Julia Hernandez ’20 Awarded Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship At Washington and Lee University, Hernandez is majoring in sociology and anthropology and French.

By Erica Turman
March 27, 2019

Julia Hernandez ’20 will attend the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute Fellowship at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs during the summer of 2019. At Washington and Lee University, Hernandez is majoring in sociology and anthropology and French.

The PPIA fellowship program helps students achieve a master’s or joint degree, typically in public policy, public administration, international affairs or a related field.

“I applied to the Junior Summer Institute in hopes to further explore how I, as an outsider to a culture, can propose and define policies that truly reflect the needs of a community without imposing my own cultural values or assumptions,” said Hernandez. “While I am excited by the prospect of learning more about public policy careers and gaining the tool kits I need to be an effective leader within this field, I am even more excited about the productive and courageous conversations that will be had this summer.”

At W&L, Hernandez is involved in several organizations. She is a work study in the Office of Admissions, a University Ambassador, a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and a French tutor.

Additionally, Hernandez works off campus with the Shepherd Poverty Program, through which she spent the summer of 2017 interning at the Cabbage Patch Settlement House in Louisville, Kentucky, and summer 2018 interning at Anani Memorial International School in Accra, Ghana.