Since its inception over 39 years ago, this innovative program has sponsored projects that have had a significant impact on the New Haven and Dwight Hall communities. Columbus House, Fair Haven Community Health Center, the Community Soup Kitchen, the New Haven Halfway House, Marrakech, Inc., and Harmony Place all began as Summer Fellowship projects.

Yale students apply to the Summer Fellowship program in mid-February by submitting a proposal that emulates a grant application. Students must demonstrate that they have relevant experience and skills for addressing an identified need in the New Haven community. They must also prepare a project plan that succinctly presents their objectives and action plans for achieving their goals. Nearly twenty-five applications are submitted annually. The amount of fellowship funding varies each year, but typically between 5-10 proposals are funded. There are six different categories of selection criteria that collectively determine an applicant’s admission to the program.

The student coordinator guides the fellowship component of the program throughout the summer. Students return to New Haven in early June and participate in a two-day orientation designed to familiarize themselves with New Haven’s neighborhoods and with each other’s projects. Fellows work a minimum forty-hours per week in order to earn their $375 weekly stipend ($3000 over the eight week program). The host organizations, or project advisors, provide mentoring and direct supervision for the Summer Fellows and the student coordinator constantly solicits feedback from these partners throughout the program to ensure that goals are being met in a responsible manner.

The Summer Fellowship involves more than individual project implementation; it also features a weekly dinner seminar with guest speakers from the New Haven community and outings with other Fellows. These gatherings allow students to inform each other’s work through their experiences and exposure to new communities and ideas.

Finally, the program offers the possibility for continuity as Fellows may apply to be Dwight Hall Urban Fellows, participating in a term-time version of the Summer Fellowship that places students in organizations or city agencies that address the challenges of urban living.

The unique aspect of the program, however, remains its ability to have students frame the issues they witness in the New Haven community and develop a response that pursues social justice. The distinction of this program, when compared to other internship or fellowship opportunities for Yale undergraduates, lies in the freedom and responsibility it places on students to pursue the project from conception (identifying the nature of the need) to completion (planning and executing a project that meets outcome-based goals). The Dwight Hall Summer Fellowship Program holds to a progressive vision of civic engagement and seeks to carefully avoid the patronizing tendencies in community service work.