Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships Prepare Students of Color for Academic Careers

Misha Baker '10 has long had a passion for anthropology, and has been considering careers in the field since her sophomore year.“I realized that becoming a professor would be the blend of two of my main interests, anthropology and working with and for college students,” she says.

Baker's Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is helping her to achieve her goals. Sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the program aims to increase the number of minority students who pursue Ph.D.s in the arts and sciences and eventually become professors in their fields. Baker is one of six current Haverford Fellows—including Stephanie Contreras '11, David Lopez '11, Christella Louis '10, Sasha Rodriguez '10, and Nicole Williams '10—who are receiving monthly stipends, as well as research funding, to help cover the cost of books, computers, research trips, and travel to events such as the annual MMUF Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. At that event, four Haverford Fellows presented their senior thesis research projects at Cornell University in November.

Assistant Professor of Economics Saleha Jilani is the Faculty Director of Haverford's MMUF program, which is overseen by the Provost's Office. With a committee of five fellow faculty members who form the Advisory Board, she interviews and selects Fellowship candidates each year.“We look for students who have a passion for their field of study, something they want to learn more about, and for which they want to go to graduate school,” she says.

Jilani's additional responsibilities include conducting monthly gatherings centered on such themes as applying to graduate school or writing personal statements, meeting regularly with individual Fellows and their faculty mentors, and evaluating research proposals. Research is integral to the program, she says:“We want them to get the best research training they can, and we like to see them add an international dimension to their projects.” For example, this winter, Fellow Nicole Williams will accompany Bryn Mawr faculty members on an archaeological research field trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Fellows were able to present their research before their scholarly peers at November's Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, which is hosted each year by a different member of the Mid-Atlantic MMUF group (composed of Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Cornell).“For many of our students,” says Jilani,“this was their first opportunity to present their academic work in the setting of a formal conference.” She reports that the attendants were“very impressed” with the Haverford contingent:“They were all poised, and handled questions very well. It was invigorating to see their enthusiasm.”

“Seeing all these students of color excelling and presenting remarkable research, and being part of that, was incredible,” says David Lopez.“It shows that academia can and will have a place for people of color.”

Misha Baker considers her Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship to be one of the highlights of her Haverford education thus far.“It is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of a greater network of students, particularly students of color who are interested in pursuing careers in academia,” she says.

-Brenna McBride