An endowed graduate fellowship has been established in honor of John H. Bracey, Jr., professor of Afro-American studies at UMass Amherst since 1972. The fund is now active. The John H. Bracey, Jr. Fellowship Fund will provide summer fellowship support for doctoral students in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies who have achieved candidacy and are engaged in research and writing their dissertations.

The Du Bois Department is pleased to announce that Ariana Vazquez has been selected as the first recipient of a scholarship established in honor of Professor Chester Davis, a member of the W. E. B. Du Bois Department faculty from 1971 to 1992. During his tenure, Professor Davis recruited prominent activists and scholars to the department. His constant encouragement and unflagging support of the students he mentored during his more than 20-year tenure transformed the lives of his students.

Carolyn Parker-Fairbain, of Boston, Mass., earned a degree in Afro-American Studies with minors in theater and history and a certificate in multicultural theater. At UMass Amherst, Parker-Fairbain focused her considerable talent and organizational energy on the intersections between Black studies and the arts. In her first Department of Theater production, she performed in Baltimore, a play by Kirsten Greenidge. 

One of the largest departments of its kind, the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies serves students seeking in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of black people in the Americas and the worldwide African Diaspora.