Announcing the 2022 Dwight Hall Summer Fellows!

The Dwight Hall Summer Fellows program supports students looking to form lasting relationships with the New Haven community and beyond. Since its founding in 1968, the program has offered unique opportunities for students to dedicate themselves to creating social change, significantly expanded the number of fellowships, and grown its partnerships with community leaders and organizations. 

This summer marks the first instance of in-person fellowship placements since 2019. Many students were placed at local New Haven or Connecticut organizations, while others will be working in cities as diverse as Los Angeles and Philadelphia. For eight weeks, they will receive full-time support for their engagement–via an internship, project, or research–with these partners. Let us give a warm welcome to our 16 Dwight Hall Summer Fellows! 

The 2022 Summer Fellows

Dwight Hall received thirty-five eligible applications for the 2022 cohort of Fellows. The acceptance of sixteen of those applicants marked an increase of three from the year prior, evidence of Dwight Hall’s ongoing effort to expand the fellowship program. “It’s the largest class that I’ve been a part of, and it’s my seventh summer operating the program,” noted Mark Fopeano, Dwight Hall’s Director of Programming and Evaluation. Eighty-nine percent of applicants self-reported they are on Yale financial aid, while eighty percent are no longer eligible for the Yale Office of Career Strategy’s Summer Experience Award. Applicants came from a wide range of class years, from rising sophomores to graduated seniors. Their applications were judged based on four criteria: the student’s commitment to social change, the feasibility of the proposed activity, the value the activity places on the knowledge and guidance of community experts, and the impact the opportunity would have on the student’s academic and professional aspirations. 

Of the selected Fellows, ten have been placed in New Haven. Some of the New Haven organizations include Elena’s Light, Leadership Education and Athletics Partnership (LEAP), Sex Workers and Allies Network (SWAN CT), Fair Haven Community Health Care (FHCHC), Christian Community Action Inc., and Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS). Many of the locally-based Fellows have established multi-year relationships with their partner organizations during their time at Yale. Yasmeen Abed ‘23, for instance, began working at Elena’s Light as a Dwight Hall New Haven intern during her sophomore year. This summer, she is employed as an Event Coordinator helping to plan the first-ever Afghan Women’s Empowerment Conference in New Haven. Similarly, Emme Magliato ‘23 was a First-Years in Support of New Haven leader who gained exposure to the Sex Workers and Allies Network, leading her to become an intern at the organization. This summer, she is providing mobile outreach and harm reduction supplies to sex workers, people who use drugs, and people experiencing homelessness in New Haven. 

The other six Fellows will be working in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington D.C., and Austin. Multiple Fellows are undertaking legal or investigative internships at public defenders’ offices. For instance, Patrick Hayes ‘24 is an Investigative Intern at the Travis County Public Defender’s Office in Austin, Texas, helping promote a holistic model of public defense in a rapidly gentrifying metro area. 

Notably, three Fellows were also 2021 Summer Fellows: Abby Leighton, Charlie Tran, and José Garcia. Being a Summer Fellow for two consecutive years is relatively uncommon, signaling the high level of local involvement that many undergraduates currently possess. Charlie will be continuing a partnership with Fair Haven Community Health Care, while Abby and José are beginning internships at HIAS Pennsylvania and Esperanza Attorneys at Law, respectively. Charlie notes, “My work with FHCHC last summer and throughout this past academic year showed me how community-based health centers capture a more holistic view of a person’s health and seek to remedy social and structural factors in addition to the medical . . . This summer, I hope to connect more with the Fair Haven community through interviews and learn how qualitative research can be applied to health work in practice.”

In-person programming provides an undeniable boon to the Summer Fellows program. “I wasn’t sure how many students were going to work in New Haven or have community relationships to work off of because of all the virtual fellowships over the last two years,” stated Mark. “I think we have a number of really great, really involved projects. . . To me there’s something clear about these sorts of unique, community-centered relationships: a real appetite for them amongst undergraduates. Dwight Hall wants to continue seeing more students considering the Summer Fellows program as a career-launching opportunity.” 

View the full list of the 2022 Fellows and their placements below: