Marshall University receives Mellon Foundation grant

Marshall University has received a $2.82 million grant from the Mellon Foundation that will be utilized over the next five years to expand internship opportunities for humanities students within the College of Liberal Arts. The project will increase the number of opportunities available for students to participate in internships in humanities fields, as well as provide the funding to pay students wages for their work.

According to an article on Marshall University’s website, Dr. Robert Bookwalter, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts who is also the principal investigator for the grant, was quoted as saying of the project, “This project will dramatically increase the number of professional internships for students in the College of Liberal Arts while expanding capacity for dozens of service agencies in the region. Thanks to the Mellon Foundation, over 300 liberal arts students will be adding professional community experience to their college credentials through this program. Thanks to a commitment from Marshall University and the Marshall University Foundation, the program is designed to continue beyond the five-year grant period, benefiting students for years to come.” 

In addition to Bookwalter, Dr. Richard G. Jones Jr., who is the chair of Communication Studies, Dr. Eric Lassiter, who is the director of Graduate Humanities, Dr. Del Chrol, who serves as the chair of Humanities, and Dr. Greta Rensenbrink, the chair of History, will be working on the project.

The purpose of the grant program is to help connect humanities students–those studying English, Humanities, Communication Studies, History, Philosophy, Latin, and Modern Languages–with local agencies in need of student workers, as well as provide funding to pay the students, giving them the benefit of paid work in their chosen field. Additionally, the grant will also supply funding for stipends for faculty advisors overseeing the interns’ work. The grant will effectively double the number of paid internships available to humanities students at Marshall University.

To foster the growth of paid internships past the five-year timeline of the grant, the Mellon Foundation is also contributing up to a $1 million endowment via matched donation funds.

Phillip Brian Harper, the program director for Higher Learning at the Mellon Foundation, explained the foundation’s grant, saying, “This grant is part of Mellon’s ongoing effort to encourage more undergraduates to study the humanities. By enabling students to see a direct connection between humanities coursework and meaningful paid employment, we seek to counter the widespread misconception that humanities study is impractical and does not provide useful career preparation.” 

For more information about Marshall University, visit the school’s website.