This summer, 10 Williams juniors and four students from Cape Town, South Africa spent six weeks at Williams College doing research in the arts and sciences as a part of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) and the Williams College Undergraduate Research Fellowship (WCURF).

The objective of MMUF and WCURF is to increase the number of students from under represented groups who will pursue Ph.D.s and increase diversity on college and university faculties. The programs provide these students with mentoring, opportunities for conducting independent research, skills development, and initiation into academic life.

This year, Williams College faculty mentored students working on projects that ranged from genocide in East Pakistan to organic chemistry, from the origins of the American Civil Rights Movement to the role of biracial women in contemporary literature.

Students presented their work at the end of July. After the summer, MMUF and WCURF continue to offer fellows support for ongoing research, graduate school, and fellowship applications. These programs additionally schedule sessions for fellows about academic careers and issues of representation in academia.

Williams College joined the MMUF program in 1989, and created WCURF in 1996. The Mellon Mays program is specific to certain "core fields within the arts and sciences." The Williams program does not limit academic fields.

According to Molly Magavern, coordinator of special academic programs, eight former MMUF students have completed Ph.D.s, 14 are in progress, and three are beginning theirs this fall. Ten former WCURF students are in the middle of pursuing their Ph.D. and one is starting this fall. Between the two programs, 30 former students have completed master's degrees and 12 are in progress.

The Mellon Foundation asked the college to host the University of Cape Town fellows this summer as part of their experience to gain exposure to U.S. academic institutions, Magavern said. The college plans to host the UCT fellows for at least three years.

The MMUF Williams students were Irtefa Binte-Farid from Charlottesville, Va.; Tatiana Fernandez from Williamstown, Mass.; Clare Henderson from Princeton, N.J.; Maya Hislop from Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Clint Robins from River Falls, Wis.

The WCURF students were Robby Finley from Arden, N.C.; Diego Flores Ontaneda from Lima, Peru; Sa-Kiera Hudson from Albany, N.Y.; Felix Owusu from Ames, Iowa; and Santiago Sanchez-Borboa from Mexico City, Mexico.

Those representing the Mellon program from Cape Town were Nomfundo Magudulela, Sibusisiwe Mnguni, Thobela Bixa, and Tatenda Chipeperekwa.

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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.

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News/Amanda Korman