For Immediate Release:  March 17, 2006
Contact: Marsha Nishi Mullan     
610-328-8535   
http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/    

Swarthmore College Senior Wins Prestigious Watson Fellowship

 Keefe Keeley of Soldiers Grove, Wis., a senior at Swarthmore College, has been named a Watson Fellow.  Keeley is one of only 50 college seniors in the country to receive this honor.  The son of Jane and Mickey Keeley, he is a 2002 graduate of North Crawford Senior High School in Soldiers Grove.

 Keeley is a biology major with an environmental studies minor.  An active leader on campus, Keeley has organized many efforts as a member of the campus environmental group, Earthlust, and is a student representative to the Crum Woods Committee.  He is also involved in on-going biology research in the Crum Woods with whitetail deer and invasive plants.  Keeley is a four-year varsity track and cross country team member and was named Most Valuable Runner for the 2004-2005 indoor track season.  He is also a four-year member of the improvisational comedy troupe, Vertigo-go, an active member of the Swarthmore Christian Fellowship, and is a McCabe Scholar.

The Watson Fellowship provides $25,000 for a full year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States.  Keeley plans to use his fellowship to study the intersection of spirituality and the environment.  He will pursue his project, "Faith and the Farm:  How Religious Values Influence Agriculture," in the U.K., New Zealand, Zambia, and Sri Lanka.  Begun in 1968, the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program identifies prospective leaders in education and world affairs.