Congratulations to Alicia Beckford Wassink on being elected the Vice President/President-Elect of the Linguistic Society of America. The LSA, established in 1924, is the oldest and most prominent professional association of linguists in the United States, whose mission is to advance the scientific study of language and to disseminate linguistics scholarship for the advancement of knowledge and the betterment of society.
In Alicia’s own words: ‘I am honored and excited to be nominated for the role of Vice President/President-elect of the LSA. I have been a member of the LSA since my first year of graduate school (1992).
In the LSA, I have found grounding for my professional identity in many ways. I’ve benefited from mentorship and networking. I have expanded my knowledge of a range of linguistic phenomena by attending, learning, and presenting at the annual meeting. I’ve been part of a scientific community that shares an excitement about the human capacity for language. The LSA has helped me connect with wonderful people with whom I have established long-term friendships.
As a Black woman who was the first in her family to earn a college degree, CEDL and BlacTOP have been important intellectual lifelines for me as I worked to carve out space for my own study of language ideology and phonetics in important linguistic varieties that were understudied in linguistics. I want this support for all linguists.’