UNCF-Mellon
English Majors
&
PhDs

One of the most remarkable but under-told stories in higher education involving Black people is the impact of the UNCF-Mellon Program on English majors. From 1999 to 2024, 77 English majors from the program went on to earn PhDs, representing 46% of all UNCF-Mellon Fellows who have earned PhDs.

Howard Rambsy II

The fellows graduated from 14 UNCF schools. Of the 77 fellows, 51 (or 66%) graduated from five colleges: Spelman (15), Tougaloo (11), Dillard (9), Morehouse (9), and Hampton (7).

60 of the 77 fellows (78%) studied or currently teach Black literature or Black studies.

24 of the 77 fellows (31%) earned PhDs in fields other than English or literature.

The fellows earned their PhDs from 49 institutions, with 23 of those PhDs (30%) awarded by just five universities: Emory (6), Penn State (5), Duke (4), Ohio State (4), and Purdue (4).

On average, three UNCF-Mellon Fellows who majored in English earned PhDs each year over the past 25 years.