OU’s Department of Native American Studies and Native Nations Center was awarded a $749,240 grant to establish an undergraduate fellowship program.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant will fund the Mellon Foundation Impact Fellows Initiative at OU — a two-year fellowship founded on leadership, scholarship and community engagement, according to a university press release. The fellowship will seek to empower students to “make a difference in Indian Country” and “achieve excellence” in their future careers.”
“At OU, preparing our students to make a meaningful impact on society is the embodiment of our university’s foundational purpose – that we change lives,” OU President Joseph Harroz said in the release. “This fellowship will inspire our students to lead and advocate for the diverse issues facing Tribal Nations today.”
Each fellowship class will host 12 students, giving priority to Native American studies majors and minors, according to the release. Students will earn the title of “Mellon Foundation Impact Fellow” with the expectation they will “establish themselves as future leaders in Indian Country.”
The grant will also support two postdoctoral associates, who will be housed in the Department of Native American Studies, according to the release.
“The program will utilize ‘high impact’ educational practices – diverse experiences that ensure students make contact with multiple forms of learning and contexts,” according to the release. “Lack of educational access at the postsecondary level continues to be a challenge for these students nationwide.”
According to the release, Native students who reside in Oklahoma made up approximately seven percent of the total undergraduate students enrolled at OU in the fall 2020 semester. Native undergraduates who are non-Oklahoma residents constituted a further two percent of total enrolled students.
“We are grateful for the opportunity that the Andrew Mellon Foundation has provided us,” Raymond Orr, the Department of Native American Studies chair said in the release. “This funding will allow us to further expand our curriculum and enrich student experiences.”
According to the release, OU is “ideally situated to provide a central place for students” to commit to fostering Native American culture and perspective.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for establishing this initiative, which utilizes OU’s long standing legacy of excellence in Native American teaching and research to ultimately benefit communities and people worldwide,” Harroz said in the release.
