Grinnell Receives $142,000 Grant to Support Future Scholars through the Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

Grinnell College is proud to share the news that the College has received a generous grant of $142,000 in support of its Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) program. This grant signifies the College’s ongoing dedication to fostering a diverse faculty and promoting the multivocality of the humanities and related disciplines. 

The Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program is the central component of the Mellon Foundation’s efforts to increase diversity in institutions of higher education. The Foundation and MMUF program actively encourage students to pursue PhDs in humanistic fields and promotes the value of multivocality in these fields by elevating interpretations and narratives that expand present understandings within scholarly discourse.  

The renewal of the College’s MMUF program recognizes the strength of the College’s phenomenal leadership team and the exemplary work the team has done in mentoring our MMUF Fellows and their faculty mentors. This grant will allow us to continue to support two five-student MMUF cohorts per year with stipends, travel and research funding, faculty mentoring, and other support for pursuing their academic careers. 

Founded in 2009 by Professor Shanna Benjamin, the Grinnell College MMUF program has been coordinated by Professor Karla Erickson since 2018. She is now moving into an assistant coordinator role as former assistant coordinator Professor Elias G. Saba transitions into the coordinator role. Amy Onstot supports the program by providing administrative assistance. MMUF’s leaders recognize the large role administrative support provides to the program and extend their earnest appreciation.  

Grinnell College expresses the utmost amount of gratitude to the Mellon Foundation for its continued support of the MMUF program and the College’s commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity in academia. The College commends the MMUF team for their excellent stewardship of the program and profoundly expresses its confidence in the MMUF program’s fostering of the next generation’s scholars who will duly enrich our collective understanding of the humanities and related disciplines, creating a more informed and inclusive world.