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Mellon Mays

Department Overview

Mission

The fundamental objective of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) 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.

The program aims to reduce over time the serious underrepresentation on the faculties of individuals from certain minority groups, as well as to address the attendant educational consequences of these disparities.

In 1988, under this broad charter, the Mellon Foundation made a long-term commitment to help remedy the serious shortage of faculty of color in higher education through the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship program.

In 2003, the Foundation reaffirmed its commitment and broadened the mission of MMUF. The name of the program was changed to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program to symbolically connect the mission to the stellar educational achievements of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

The MMUF Program at Swarthmore

In 1988, Swarthmore was one of eight charter institutions chosen to participate in the program. The first cohort chosen here in 1989 included six students. In 2004, the MMUF Program celebrated its first 100 Ph.Ds. Swarthmore fellows made up 10 percent of this group. By 2006, over 200 Ph.Ds had been earned by program fellows; 13 of these were Swarthmore undergraduates, nearly seven percent of the total.

Mame Bonsu ’14 presents her summer research

Niamba Baskerville ’14 presents her summer research

Janelle Viera ’14 with her faculty mentor, Professor Nina Johnson

Danielle Fitzgerald ’15 and Professor Micheline Rice-Maximin

Tania Uruchima ’16 and Uriel Medina Espino ’16

Jareema Hylton ’16 and Cortnie Belser ’15

Cortnie Belser ’15

Cortnie Belser ’15

Swarthmore’s Fellows attend the MMUF Regional Conference at Princeton (Spring 2016)

Allison Alcéna ’17 (center) presents her research 

Geoffrey Shepard ’16 (center) presents his research at Princeton (Spring 2016)

Quinn Wong ’16 (center) and Tania Uruchima ’16 (right) present their research at Princeton (Spring 2016)

Allison Alcéna ’17

Allison Alcéna presents her research at the University of Pennsylvania (fall 2016) 

Mosea Esaias ’17

Mame Bonsu ’14 presents her summer research

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Student at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner speaks with President Smith Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner with Mark Wallace and Karen Henry Photo by Laurence Kesterson
President Smith at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student speaks with professor at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Student at Mellon Mays dinner Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Dion Lewis and Jamie Thomas Photo by Laurence Kesterson
President Smith and Dion Lewis Photo by Laurence Kesterson
President smith speaks with student Photo by Laurence Kesterson
Photo / Laurence Kesterson
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Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

The program's name, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program, honors and symbolically connects its mission to the stellar educational achievements of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

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Mentoring

Each Mellon fellow is paired with a faculty mentor. The mentor-fellow relationship is one of mutual respect and commitment. Students work with their mentors to develop their scholarly interests into research directions and design.

 

Mentoring Philosophy