Three WSSU students selected for NC Governor’s HBCU Internship Program
Interns gain work experience at Fortune 500 Companies in North Carolina
Three Winston-Salem State University students have been selected to participate in the North Carolina Governor’s HBCU Internship Program this summer.
Destiny Pope is interning with Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC; and Kaylen McClinton and Niya McCrimmon are both interning with CliftonLarsonAllen, a professional services firm specializing in integrated wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, outsourcing, and consulting services.
The HBCU Internship Program was established in 2015 to build a bridge between North Carolina’s HBCU students and leading Fortune 500 companies in the state. It offers paid, full-time summer internships to qualified rising juniors and seniors who have a minimum grade point average of 2.8 and a demonstrated history of involvement in student and national organizations.
The three WSSU students are among 37 interns from the state’s historically Black colleges and universities. In addition to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and CliftonLarsonAllen, other companies participating this summer are Cisco, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Hooker Furnishings, Lenovo, RTI International, SAS, Syngenta and Wells Fargo.
Throughout their internships, the students will gain real-world experience that helps propel them toward successful careers. An annual survey of internship employers from the National Association of Colleges and Employers has consistently found that 50% to 60% of eligible interns convert to full-time employees.
North Carolina is home to 13% of the nation’s HBCUs. All five public HBCUs of the University of North Carolina System – WSSU, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and North Carolina Central University – actively participate in the program. Additionally, private HBCUs, including Bennett College, Johnson C. Smith University, Livingstone College, Saint Augustine's University and Shaw University, contribute to the program's richness.
About the UNC System
The University of North Carolina System enrolls 242,500 students at 17 institutions, including the state’s 16 public universities and the nation’s first public residential high school for academically gifted students. The UNC System is among the strongest and most diverse higher education systems in the country, with more than $1.9 billion in research expenditures and campuses that serve every region of North Carolina. Affiliate organizations include PBS North Carolina, with 12 public television stations across the state, and UNC Health, with 19 hospital campuses and an extensive healthcare network.
