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Fellowship designed for
minority graduate students
By Anna Herkamp
Summer
Reporter
Last year, Purdue president Martin Jischke announced
a new fellowship specifically designed for minority graduate students.
The original plan for the fellowship came from
a National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges conference
last year. He was invited to give a speech at the meeting. Jischke felt
that George Washington Carver was an ideal example of the values of
land grant colleges and universities.
The association meets every year, and in preparation
for it, Jischke decided the best way to use Carver's legacy would be
to instate a new fellowship specifically for minority graduate students
who did their undergraduate work at a historically black institution,
Hispanic-serving or tribal college, and want to pursue careers as professors.
Jischke said this would double the number of Ph.Ds
in the areas of science, engineering and mathematics.
The fellowship serves to support not only students
in these areas, but also Carver's value in education.
In a recent press release, Jischke is quoted, "Born
a slave, Carver lived the values of access and opportunity, practical
and liberal education, basic and applied research, and a commitment
to service and engagement with the larger community."
Dwight Lewis, director of the Graduate School's
Minority Program Office, said the need for minority faculty members
in the areas of science, engineering and mathematics just isn't being
met.
So far, the privately funded fellowship has recruited
two students. One of them, Javier Irizarry, is from Trujillo Alto, Puerto
Rico. Irizarry earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from
the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. He also earned a master's degree
in construction management from the Polytechnic University of Puerto
Rico. As an undergraduate, he worked on cross-campus research with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology related to the development of
the San Juan Tren Urbano Transit System.
The name of the other student hasn't been released.
In a press release, Irizarry said, "I hope to expand
my research in the construction industry and develop innovative ways
to contribute to construction activities under extreme environmental
conditions."
One of the main objectives of this particular fellowship
is to strengthen the bonds between the minority institutions and land
grant universities, said Jischke.
In order to encourage Carver's legacy, Jischke's
goal for the program is to encourage minority graduate students to join
the faculties of other institutions as professors.
Historically, minority institutions played an important
role in higher education of minorities, said Dwight Lewis, director
of the Graduate School's Minority Program Office. In the past, minority
students weren't allowed to go to the state schools. It wasn't until
the '60's and '70s that students began to enter the undergraduate programs,
and because so few of them even went to college, fewer entered the graduate
programs.
This is still a problem today, said Lewis. While
the reasons that minority students are underrepresented in the areas
of science, engineering and mathematics are complicated, one main issue
Jischke identified was that many of the students hadn't even considered
going to graduate school, let alone becoming a professor.
Lewis said in grades K-12, minority interest in
science and mathematics isn't fostered as it should be. Therefore, he
said, many of these students don't even consider a career in the sciences,
let alone an academic one.
Concerning the future of the fellowship, Lewis
said, "What's important is that once students come to the University,
they receive mentoring and support from faculty. We want to keep them
in academia so they will hopefully go on to another college to teach.
That's where I hope (the fellowship) goes."
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