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1988 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

Clockwise from left: Chuck James, Garikai Campbell '90, Anthony Foy, Sa'ed Atshan '06

Clockwise from left:  Former and current MMUF program coordinators Chuck James, Garikai Campbell '90,  Sa'ed Atshan '06, and Anthony Foy.

The primary goal of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program is to increase the number of minority students, and others with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities, who will pursue Ph.D.s in core fields in the arts and sciences. In 1988, Swarthmore is chosen as one of the program’s eight charter member institutions. 

Over the past 30 years, nearly 150 students have graduated as MMUF Fellows. Of them, 47 have earned doctorates or are in the process of doing so, in addition to those who have earned JD and MD degrees. 

Chuck James, the Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot Professor Emeritus of English Literature, coordinated the program from its inception until 2007. The program has also been led by former dean and mathematics professor Garikai Campbell '90, one of Swarthmore's first two MMUF Fellows, and Associate Professor of English Literature Anthony Foy. Currently, Sa'ed Atshan '06, assistant professor of peace and conflict studies who also graduated as an MMUF Fellow, serves as the program coordinator.