Tuesday, April 10, 2012
PRINCESS ANNE, MD. – (April 10, 2012) – Leroy Myers, a University of Maryland Eastern Shore history major, has been named a fellow at the 2012 Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute in New York City.
The junior from Baltimore is the second UMES student to take part in the prestigious program limited to 10 participants each summer.
Myers will spend six weeks at The Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Institute, where he will study in graduate-level seminars in the humanities as well as conduct research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture housed at The New York Public Library in Harlem.
He is one of five rising seniors in the 2012 summer program representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the nation. Five other seminar participants are from the New York area. Myers, recognized for his academic performance by the UMES Department of Social Sciences at the 2012 Honors Convocation, has not chosen a research topic.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation created the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute to encourage minority students and others with an interest in African-American and studies of the African diaspora to pursue graduate degrees in the humanities.
The aim of the fellowship is to assemble bright undergrads in the humanities and help prepare them for the arduous scholarly atmosphere of graduate school. This is a competitive award and an invaluable experience, according to Dr. Kathryn Barrett-Gaines, Director of African and African American Studies. Myers said he is hoping to pursue a master’s degree in English.
Another UMES student — Naeemah Kitchens — also participated in this program two years ago. The 2011 graduate has since gone on to win a fellowship for graduate study at Boston University, a Fulbright teaching grant to work in Kenya and numerous offers from law schools.
“Leroy will no doubt follow Naeemah into a bright and interesting future,” Barrett-Gaines said. “This is another proud moment for UMES and for Leroy Myers.”
Bill Robinson, director, UMES Office of Public Relations; 410-621-2355
