Mellon-Heads: My 1st SSRC-MMUF Summer Conference

This past week, I attended my first SSRC-MMUF Graduate Student Summer Conference. As with all things Mellon, it was a wonderful experience. This year's theme was "The Creative Potential of the Mellon Mays Network," which held particular relevance given the often apocalyptic atmosphere surrounding the future of academia. Now that I have my first year of graduate school under my belt, I can truly appreciate the significance of events like this. I fnd it refreshing to come together with other young students of color, to listen to their stories, to watch them become animated when they discuss their research interests. And of course, it's always good to party a little bit. :-)

Panel Discussing "The Creative Potential of the Mellon Mays Network"

I gave my first paper presentation at this year's conference as well. I felt a little behind, given that several students in my cohort at my home institution have presented at conferences already. But since I've started my project from scratch this past year, I suppose I'm not doing so badly. My presentation went well. I received some great feedback from a few professors, and no one in the audience appeared too bored.


Me Giving My Presentation

 I am ever grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a great program. Being a Mellon Mays Undergradaute Fellow in undergrad saved my academic life. Before becoming a Fellow, I didn't know what grad school entailed, or that I could make a living off of my love for history. It saddens me that so many people question the use and need for these programs. Racial and ethnic minorities are grossly underrepresented at universities, both in the States and abroad. (See here and here.) Though I certainly have reservations about how universities handle diversity issues, attempts to do away with scholarships and programs aimed at pulling more students of color into these institutions are quite harmful. Frankly, anyone who argues that affirmative action isn't needed anymore is painfully ignorant at best and maliciously oppressive at the worst. However, I'll save that rant for another post.

All in all, I'm glad that the MMUF program exists, and I'm committed to remaining an active part of the Mellon family throughout my career. In the solitude of graduate school, it's easy to forget that so many of us are struggling through the same things. I love my department, but I must confess that it's tiring to be one of the few brown faces around the place. Navigating the space between my rural East Texas upbringing and the cosmopolitan scholarly life I hope to live would be much more difficult if not for the resources that the MMUF program provides. It's more than fellowship money. It's the reassurance I feel when I see young professors of color who are pursuing this path with their spirits intact. It's the comraderie I feel when I have lunch with other students who can relate to the same insecurities and frustrations that come with graduate school. The mission of the MMUF program reminds me that I'm doing something worthy. Even if people think that I'm "just" reading books or that the research I do doesn't matter, I know that there are young people out there who desperately need to see teachers, scholars, and activists who look like them and can relate to them. And that's why I'm doing this. (Well, that and the fact that I'd go crazy if I had to work a 9-to-5 forever. My previous job was great, but I couldn't be an office admin for the rest of my days. Let's be real.) I'm doing this because I see a very real need for poor people and people of color to be represented in academia, in government, in the upper levels of commerce. My way of addressing this need is to learn how to play this game so that hopefully I can change it. (I think I inadvertently stole that line from a rap song...)

I leave you with an image that, to me, captures the essence of the conference. Someone had a copy of Dr. Manning Marable's new Malcolm X volume next to an Amstel at Thursday night's party. Lovely.

Peace,
V