Alex Griffin-Little

Alex Griffin-Little: An Academic Life Filled to the Brim

Alex Griffin-Little will be graduating from Purdue in May 2021. She will be graduating Phi Beta Kappa, with majors in Political Science, History, and Women’s Studies. The Indianapolis area native has excelled in the classroom. She has also thrown herself into life on and off campus. She’s even learning bass guitar.

Alex’s entrée to Political Science was POL 101: American Government and Politics. As she notes, “I came to Purdue as a History major and as soon as I took POL 101, I knew I wanted to add it as a major!” 

During her time as a Boilermaker, Griffin-Little has interned with the Indiana House Democratic Caucus, worked as a fellow for the Indiana Democratic Party, and volunteered during the summer with the Lafayette Urban Ministry (LUM). Her time with LUM has focused on LUM’s Immigration Clinic and Campaign for Hoosier Families. Her work has included “assisting with intake and information management as well as community outreach and fundraising.”

Student government has also played an important role in Alex’s life at Purdue. She has “been heavily involved with Purdue Student Government” and has “represented the Honors College as a Student Senator where [Griffin-Little] represents the needs of over 3,000 students to Purdue administration.”

In her final semester at Purdue, Alex will be working on an undergraduate thesis that “looks at redlining and racial segregation in West Lafayette in the mid-twentieth century.”

Not many students graduate with three majors during their time as an undergraduate. Rather than seeing them as three separate and unconnected majors, Griffin-Little sees them as complimentary areas of study.

For Alex, “all of my different disciplines tend to merge together and impact how I study and research. Studying History allows me to consider the events of the past, Political Science forces me to apply these lessons to modern society, and Women’s Studies ensures that the scholarship I produce is intersectional and inclusive of all stories and experiences.”

Griffin-Little likes “how many different paths you can take as a Political Science major.” As she recently noted,  “I went down the public policy route, but I have a lot of friends who specialized in international relations, environmental policy, or political theory. The major is really what you make it!” 

With a resume the envy of many of her peers, Alex’s post-graduation life will begin with a position in Chicago with Teach for America (TFA). Her role with TFA aligns perfectly with her values. For as Griffin-Little notes, “I have always been passionate about education equity and I am excited to pursue this with TFA!”

The students in her TFA classroom will be fortunate indeed.