Government Student Diversity Fellows

Agency: William & Mary (BOV)
Type: Expendable
Fund Name: Government Department Student Diversity Fellows
Purpose: To provide support for student diversity fellows in the Government Department.
Fund Administrator: Chair, Government Department
Goal: $15,000
Goal Not Met: Continue fundraising
Goal Exceeded: Offer larger stipends

As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Department of Government voted on August 28, 2020 to establish a Student Diversity Fellows program and to provide a stipend to each of the fellows for their work. We did so first and foremost to respond to our Black students’ calls to address systemic racism and structural inequality in the United States and around the world, and the Department’s and College’s role in perpetuating these systems of oppression. Our diversity fellows provide a formal mechanism for direct communication between our students and faculty in the Government Department. Having completed one year of our program, we are excited to continue collaborating with our students on this important work.

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 10 student diversity fellows worked on several departmental diversity initiatives in coordination with Government faculty. Our students developed a department-level reporting mechanism for students to report bias and/or harassment. They provided valuable insight into our Department Diversity Plan, helped draft questions for a department-wide student climate survey, and discussed with faculty ways we could work together to make the department more inclusive. During the current and future academic years, we plan to deepen our faculty’s involvement with our diversity fellows’ efforts by establishing more opportunities for faculty-student interaction.