Sydney Cross ’10

A passion for global issues and pursuing outstanding opportunities at Trinity put Sydney Cross on a path for her successful career as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State. In 2021, she was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, serving as a political officer. Prior to her move to Ottawa,  she was posted in Washington, D.C., as a watch officer for the U.S. Department of State. Previously, she served as a foreign service officer at the American embassy in Mexico. She earned her bachelor of arts degree from Trinity in 2010, majoring in international affairs and earned a master’s degree at Howard University.

In her senior year, Sydney Cross was one of 20 recipients nationwide of the prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, this highly-competitive fellowship provides both scholarship funding and internship experience for young people to pursue a career in the U.S. Foreign Service. At the time, the Rangel Fellowship provided up to $28,000 annually for tuition, room, board and a stipend for a two-year master’s degree in international affairs; each fellow is then assigned a three-year appointment as a foreign service officer. During the summer prior to her senior year, Cross gained admission to the highly competitive Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Program at Howard University. The internship led to her selection as a Rangel Graduate Fellow. Her Rangel Fellowship began with a summer internship on Capitol Hill in the office of Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

The St. Louis, Missouri, completed her Trinity undergraduate degree in three years by earning college credits in high school. While a student at Trinity,  she worked with the U.S. State Department in the Bureau of Administration’s Information Privacy Office. She interned with the Democratic National Committee in 2008, and attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. She became involved with the Black Caucus of the College Democrats of America, and served as secretary before her subsequent election to vice president. Throughout her time at Trinity was very involved in campus life, serving as president of the Student Government Association and president of the Trinity College Democrats, and playing on the volleyball team. Immediately after graduation, she travelled to Israel with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Campus Allies Mission program.