Bryn Mawr Posse Alumna Joins Faculty at Bard College

Jomaira Salas Pujols, a Posse graduate of Bryn Mawr College, has been appointed to the faculty at Bard College in its department of sociology. Jomaira is currently completing doctoral work in sociology at Rutgers University, where she uses qualitative methods to study race, place, education and Black girlhood.

A first-generation college student, Jomaira graduated from Bryn Mawr with a major in sociology and a minor in education. She was also an undergraduate fellow in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF), a national initiative that aims to encourage individuals from historically underrepresented ethnic groups to pursue doctorate degrees.

“I am so thrilled to not only pursue my academic career at a liberal arts institution but also one that is partnered with Posse.”

Jomaira completed her MMUF research project under the guidance of Bryn Mawr Professor of Sociology David Karen. She has remained connected to her alma mater over the years, including as a young alumna trustee on the college’s Board of Trustees from 2016-2019 and as a special representative to the Board from 2019-2020.

Jomaira was recently awarded a Ford Dissertation Fellowship. In fall 2022, she will begin her tenure at Bard, a longtime Posse partner that currently recruits Posses from Atlanta and Puerto Rico.

“When Posse first introduced me to liberal arts colleges as a high school senior, I had little sense of how transformative my undergraduate experience would be,” Jomaira says. “That is why I am so thrilled to not only pursue my academic career at a liberal arts institution but also one that is partnered with Posse.”

Jomaira’s doctoral dissertation examines the consequences of movement on Black girls’ perceptions of self, their identities, and their worlds—a concept she defines as a “journeying.” At Rutgers, she has also contributed as a youth worker, community-based facilitator, and a founding member of the Black Latinas Know Collective.

“I look forward to supporting Posse Scholars as a faculty member at Bard,” Jomaira says, “and to joining an institution that is so deeply committed to the public good.”