The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program is an initiative designed to increase faculty diversity. Established in 1998 with eight member institutions, the program now includes 51 member institutions across the U.S and has served over 6000 student-fellows. At Berkeley, the program focuses on students with “exceptional academic promise in the humanities or social sciences and potential for academic careers that will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in the academy.” The program provides participating students, known as fellows, with faculty and graduate student mentorship, as well as guidance on graduate studies exploration that considers their research and curricular interests. Students also prepare for graduate school and professional life through scholarly presentations, workshops, annual conferences, and cultural and educational field trips. If students continue to graduate studies, they can participate in additional Mellon Mays programming, such as an annual summer conference for networking, a proposal writing and dissertation development seminar, a seminar on preparing for the professoriate, and a PhD retreat. Financial support is provided to pursue intellectual projects, prepare for graduate school, and for travel and research. The program is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation.
