Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Coordinator: Dr. June Bobb

"Tomorrow may not be better, but we must believe that it will be. Wars may never cease, but we must continue to strive to eliminate them. We may not abolish poverty, but we must believe that we can provide bread enough and to spare for every living creature and that we can find the means to distribute it. We may not exterminate racism, but we must believe that different racial groups can live together in peace, and we must never cease to try.... "

-Benjamin Mays    

  In 1988, the Andrew Mellon Foundation created the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) in response to the shortage of faculty of color in higher education. Since its inception, more than 100 fellows have completed the PhD and are teaching across the country. Other fellows are completing their dissertations as yearly new fellows join the community of young scholars. In 2003, the Mellon Foundation reaffirmed its commitment and broadened its mission to the Undergraduate Fellowship program. The Foundation changed the name of the program to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. This change honors the educational achievements of Dr. Benjamin Mays, and recognizes his extraordinary dedication to the struggle for educational, economic and social equality for all people. The objective of the MMUF is to "increase the number of minority students, and others with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities, who will pursue PhDs in core fields in the arts and sciences." The MMUF has been a part of the intellectual life of the College since 1989.