Kendrick Backmon is a Ph.D. in Political Science student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research and writing focus on civil rights, education policy, and constitutional law. He became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for the Graduate Student Government at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on October 18th, 2024.
Before joining the Amherst community, Kendrick interned on Capitol Hill in the United States Senate. He then began graduate study at Cornell University in 2019 where he wrote a graduate thesis about education law and civil rights. After graduating from Cornell, Kendrick studied at Harvard University where he was an Equity and Inclusion Fellow and an M.ED. student. After teaching his third cohort for a leadership capstone in 2024, he was inspired to serve as an Associate Justice. On November 1, 2024, Kendrick was elected Inaugural Chief Justice by his fellow Justices on the GSG Supreme Court. Kendrick is a seasoned Student Government official with service spanning from 2008 to 2018 in various roles. He is honored and delighted to serve the graduate student population as a member of the GSG Supreme Court.
Bukola Babayeju is a Doctoral Student in International Education here at UMass. Before attending UMass, Bukola attended the University of Lagos in Nigeria where she acquired her Bachelor's degree in Industrial Relations and Personal Management as well as a Master of Industrial and Labour Relations. Upon completion of those degrees, Bukola attended Brandies University where she graduated from with her Master of Sustainable International Development. Bukola's passion for education stems from witnessing social inequalities, specifically the barriers to accessing quality education in marginalized communities particularly for girls and women.
