Shannon Watty, a native of Wesley, Dominica was a top student in the Developmental and Higher Education program at Grambling State University. He has received several awards including an award in Criminal Justice for outstanding academic and professional attitude in Criminal Law.

He has completed scholarly articles on victims of racial profiling and tutoring services, among others. Presently, he is conducting a study on nontraditional student accommodations in higher education. This highlights strategies supporting single-parents, veterans, full-time & part-time workers, and prisoners, among others, allowing them to have an equal chance of obtaining postsecondary education.

When asked what was something distinctive about him? He said “What makes me unique is my inability to fear failure. In fact, I believe it is an essential part of the experimental process that guides you to success. I circumspectly tailor my life down to only the things that are necessary to obtain my goals. Similar to the law of aerodynamics in which the gravitational pull attempts to keep the airplane back, through God, I maintain that nothing is impossible despite the obstacles I encounter”

His career goals include  law enforcement centered on the protection and recovery of sex trafficking victims and also pursuing a profession in higher education centered on providing access and academic support to more students of color and those from low-income families