Union College

Union College, Engeye, and the residents of Uganda's Ddegeya Village are embarking on a novel partnership that has the potential to change many lives.

A plan conceived by Union College professor Hal Fried and assistant dean Tom McEvoy will grant select Union College recipients annual travel stipends to live in rural Uganda at Engeye Health Clinic for eight months and undertake a project of their choice. From teaching and health care to advancing electricity and running water efforts, the stage is theirs to choreograph and implement their personal visions. Upon return to the United States, the recipients will inspire fellow students when they co-teach Professor Fried's innovative Social Entrepreneurship course.

This novel enterprise would not have come to fruition without the generosity of some folks who were willing to take a leap of faith in support of those less fortunate. The donors of the scholarship are not only enabling students to experience a time unlike any before, but they are facilitating a partnership between local and global knowledge, enabling a long overdue bold global health initiative.

Engeye, Union College, and the villagers of Ddegeya realize that globalised medicine is essential to achieving universal peace and prosperity. It is our responsibility. Greatness and global health go hand in hand. As conscientious world citizens, it is evident the time to act is now.

In the words of Dr. Joia Mukherjee, "You speak English, you have a passport, you have a responsibility to use those tools. Go see these places and talk about them. Write about them. Be an advocate. It's a huge job, but the coolest thing ever is to change the world.”


Celebration for Second Group of Minerva Fellows. Back (Left to Right): Dean Thomas McEvoy, Monica Rowett, Tom Perry, Theresa Weinman, Dr. Stephanie VanDyke. Front: Stephen Po-Chedley, Becky Broadwin.

2009 - 2010 Minerva Fellows

Monica Rowett grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, and graduated from Union College with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Sociology. Monica has always been extremely interested in traveling, and had the awesome opportunity to travel to both Costa Rica and Vietnam in the past. Art has always been a passion of Monica's and she enjoys using recycled products as her medium. Rowett hopes that being a Minerva Fellow will provide her with a better understanding of the world and the multitude of cultures and people that make up our world.

Tom Perry recently graduated from Union College as a Physics Major and an Astrophysics Minor. Tom will be living in Ddegeya, Uganda for the next nine months with Monica Rowett, volunteering at Engeye in Ddegeya, Uganda. While there, Tom will be working both within the clinic and in the surrounding village, teaching as well as learning. Tom received the Josephine Daggett Award as a senior at Union College for "exemplary conduct and character."

2008 - 2009 Minerva Fellows

Becky Broadwin, from Concord, MA, recently graduated from Union College with a B.A. in History. During Becky's time at Union College she was involved in several different campus organizations designed to improve and increase the opportunities available to students. Becky also joined the school's rugby team, the school's chapter of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, and lived in the Community Service Theme House. In addition, Becky enjoys traveling, reading, learning about new cultures, and running. In the future, Becky hopes to pursue a career in the public sector.

Stephen Po-Chedley grduated from Union College with a B.S. in Physics and minors in Mathematics and Environmental Studies. Stephen is from Hamburg, NY and has been active in progressing campus sustainability as the U Sustain chair at Union. He has also been very involved with environmental and political activism and was awarded a Udall Scholarship in 2006 and the Bailey Prize for rendering "the greatest service to the college in any field." Po-Chedley enjoys soccer, learning more about politics and the environment, physics, and hiking. He plans on pursing a PhD in Climate Physics in the fall of 2009.