Graduate School Dr. June’s graduate degrees were not any easier to achieve. Common to many first-generation college students, June was unfamiliar with graduate school. June met Sharon Kern, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, during a PAW convention. Sharon was visiting UW for a summer study and needed a place to stay. June opened their home to Sharon, and she encouraged June to apply to graduate school. “She said, ‘June, you ought to go into graduate school. Promise me you will apply.’” Not only did Dr. June apply to the UW and get admitted into her program, but she also finished a two-year program six months early, earning a master’s in Educational Psychology with a concentration in College Counseling in 1978. In March of 1979, June was hired at the UW in Student Affairs as an Activities Adviser, worked for six years, and had Heather in 1981 and Ashleigh in 1985, when she decided to take time off to focus on family. June returned to the UW as an Academic Adviser/Counselor in 1990. It was just in time to be with her two sons (Roland Jr and Russell), now students at UW. In 2006 June applied to the doctoral program in Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies. She later learned that she was one of five students out of three hundred applicants selected for the doctoral program. Dr. June believes that her strong personal statement (based somewhat on her work with students in OMA&D) set her apart. “I felt so humbly honored to have been admitted.” However, between admission and completing her Ed.D. in 2015, June battled with breast cancer in 2012. June said, “I did not have time for breast cancer. You know, I was focused, and I did not want to get distracted.” June took time away from her studies to focus on her health and well-being, and as soon as she was able, she jumped right back into completing her doctorate, working full-time.
Legacy Dr. June has spent her career encouraging and supporting UW students to reach for the stars and achieve their dreams. She has led by example to the university, the students she serves, and her family. Being a firstgeneration college student, she passed on the lessons she learned to her children and grandchildren. “It was easier for them because they had somebody who had already blazed the trail. Education is a crucial element of the Hairston household. Dr. June has five children and two unofficially adopted children. “Four of my five children have graduated from college. They went to college with us, as we studied in UW’s Suzzallo library.” We left the boys in the children’s section while Roland and I studied upstairs.” Attending a university was an expectation. “Our kids knew they were going to college because their mom and dad both had degrees.” Of her thirteen grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, five are college-age. Of those five, one graduated with a STEM degree and is pursuing Medical School, two are pursuing their bachelor’s degrees, one at UW, and the other is a transfer student planning to attend UW winter quarter in 2023. Another grandson is a U. S. Army veteran with college credits, and one is pursuing a career in the arts. A great point of pride for Dr. June is the Husky legacy in her family. Roland Jr. and Russell studied Sociology. UW recruited Russell to play Husky football and admitted him as a red-shirted freshman. “It was an exciting time on campus when the Huskies won two consecutive Rose Bowl games, lost one, and then won the National Championship game, known as the ‘Whammy in Miami’ [in 1994]. During this game, Russell intercepted the ball and took it to the ‘HOUSE’ for a touchdown, turning the tide for winning the game!” June Summers of Saint Louis, Missouri, with some tears and disappointments along the way, her faith, and a lot of grit and perseverance, is now Dr. June Summers Hairston, director of the Pacific Northwest Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) in STEM. She changed the course of her family’s lives for generations to come. Dr. June coined the phrase, “Few are called to impact the masses, but many are called to impact a few.” She’s thankful to have impacted both.
THE THE CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK OUTLOOK
“AND “AND THEY THEY CONTINUED” CONTINUED”
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