The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program selects a small cohort of sophomores to join a tightly-knit research community to conduct independent research in close collaboration with a faculty mentor and engage in pre-professional development workshops and seminars on pursuing doctoral degrees, research, and life in the academy during their junior and senior years. The MMUF program exists to counter the underrepresentation of marginalized groups in college and university faculties nationwide, specifically in fields within the humanities and humanistic social sciences, and thus, encourages students of color, students from marginalized backgrounds, and others with a demonstrated commitment to racial diversity to pursue academic careers.