“If we want to envision a more just world for all of us, we have to have educators in the classroom who teach us to think critically about structures of oppression, who teach us to think empathetically about difference … from a place of respect and love and admiration,” says Irene Mata, faculty director of Wellesley’s chapter of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program and associate professor of American studies. “When we have those types of educators in the classroom, the possibility for education as a practice of liberation is manifested.”
The Mellon Mays program prepares students who are committed to supporting diversity in academia for graduate school and faculty careers by providing mentorship and financial support for student researchers. The Mellon Foundation established the program in 1988 to “address the barriers that result in the problem of underrepresentation in the faculty ranks of higher education,”and now, over three decades later, the program has chapters at 47 member schools and three consortia. At Wellesley, which has been part of the program for 35 years, this is reflected in the selection process for the program.
“We’re very deliberate to select fellows whose work is focusing on underrepresented communities,” says Mata, particularly students “whose works have not been as valued in academic spaces, whose communities and lives have not been seen as worthy of analysis.”
The five students chosen each year from the sophomore application pool begin their Mellon Mays journey through a structured, weeklong intensive program. During their junior year, fellows regularly meet with their faculty mentors and peers, and they present their research at a regional conference. (A complete list of current fellows and their research topics can be viewed here.)
“They get to present to their peers, and it’s like, ‘What I’m doing not only matters, but I get to see these other fellows from around the country, and we’re all doing this together,’” says Teófilo Barbalho, Wellesley’s Mellon Mays program coordinator.
Having an advisor at Mellon who understands you as a person, sees you as a person, and sees you as someone that has a lot of potential for this work is very empowering.
As seniors, fellows complete a formal thesis on their research, prepare a 10-minute presentation at the conference to other Mellon fellows, and apply to graduate school. Fellows must apply to at least two graduate programs, but the fellowship is not limited to applicants who know that is their path. Current fellows Lillian Goins ’26 and Angelica Delgado ’25, for example, plan on taking a gap year before considering graduate school but say they still value the preparation they get from their mentors and invited speakers.
“If you’re thinking about graduate school, but you’re not really sure, I think it would still be a good idea to apply [to Mellon Mays],” says Delgado. “We learned a lot about what it’s like … especially as a woman or person of color, what it’s like going into these spaces. It can be rough to hear [those stories], but it’s something we need to hear.”
The program’s mission goes beyond preparing students for their academic future and career; it amplifies voices that are not heard as often in an academic setting.
“Not every Mellon grad goes into academia,” says Barbalho. “So I think it’s super important to share those stories, share their research, and share different perspectives that aren’t shown or promoted in academia.”
For instance, Goins is examining minstrelsy in modern media, with a particular focus on sequential image social network sites like TikTok and Vine, and how blackface and racial impersonation are reproduced within them.
“I’m looking at the ways in which these images of Black people are not empowering,” says Goins. “What I want to do in my work is produce and promote images that are empowering, so I’m very passionate about teaching through art.”
Mellon Mays gives students unique opportunities to do such work, through the regional conference as well as fieldwork. Delgado is studying the causes and effects of tourism in Oaxaca, Mexico, during Dia de los Muertos, so she knew she needed to observe and interview tourists and locals in person. Thanks to program funding, she was able to visit Oaxaca City during the holiday to go beyond what she calls “armchair anthropology,” or conducting research on communities from afar without interacting with them.
“It was great because I was able to feel things I wouldn’t feel just reading it from a distance,” says Delgado. “I really like doing research, but also visiting the places, learning more, and being immersed in that environment.”
Mentoring is also a crucial aspect of the program. Each fellow chooses a mentor to aid them in their research, giving students structure and allowing them to form a tight bond in the process.
“Having an advisor at Mellon who understands you as a person, sees you as a person, and sees you as someone that has a lot of potential for this work is very empowering,” says Goins, whose advisor is Mata. “It’s very comforting, and it makes me realize that this is what I want to do for other people as well.”
One of Mata and Barbalho’s goals is for the members of the close-knit cohorts to encourage each other. “We work really, really hard to build a community of learning, and of love and support, so that students can feel empowered to pursue whatever goals they set for themselves,” says Mata.
Ultimately, the Mellon Mays program strives to make academia more diverse and inclusive by promoting research into underrepresented communities and by giving students the necessary resources and support they need to become changemakers.
“[The fellows] are standing on the shoulders of giants here,” says Barbalho. “I would just love for them, whether they go into academia or not, to provide those shoulders for future generations, too.”