Thirteen From SU Named UN Millennium Fellows

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University and its Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution have maintained a strong relationship with the United Nations (UN) for many years.

That connection recently was strengthened with the announcement of 13 SU students named UN Millennium Fellows and SU’s designation as UN Millennium Campus.

More than 15,000 students from nearly 1,500 university and college campuses across 135 nations applied for the fellowships. Just 1,438 were awarded, including each SU student who advanced past the second round of review.

Abigail Brown of Doylestown, PA; Aida Dodoo of Salisbury; Anna Brennan of California, MD; Cassandra Duncan of West Friendship, MD; Evan Polkinghorn of Salisbury; Hailey Griffin of Baltimore; Johannah Cooper of Jarrettsville, MD; Jude Al-Hamad of Berlin, MD; Madeline Poteet of Jarrettsville, MD; Nathaniel Sansom of Allen, MD; Rachel Clausen of Natick, MA; Sandra Zelaya of Salisbury; and Victoria Seilback of Forest Hill, MD, earned fellowships.

The recipients are not limited to any one school or program, as the SU fellows cover a wide variety of academic disciplines.

“I hope this will spur all the students into greater achievements,” said Dr. Arun Gandhi, SU’s Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution’s conflict scholar-in-residence for nearly 20 years. “It should not always be about accumulating personal accolades, but about how our individual success translates into changing the lives of the millions in the world who live in poverty and ignorance.” 

Each student proposed a project focusing on one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Their efforts will benefit SU and/or the greater Salisbury community. With COVID-19 a consideration, all of the projects have been designed with the ability to be completed remotely.

Polkinghorn, Executive Director of the Bosserman Center, credits Dr. Brittany Foutz, conflict analysis and dispute resolution faculty and political science lecturer, and recent SU graduate Abiodun Adeoye, a Bosserman UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) fellow, for their efforts in mentoring nearly 40 students who went through the orientation and application process.

Polkinghorn, Foutz and Adeoye were in regular communication with the students as they advanced through the process, assisting by reviewing drafts and ensuring that application materials were prepared properly.

Due to the high number of accepted fellows, SU has earned the distinction of being named a UN Millennium Campus, one of just 80 such institutions worldwide.

“With this new UN campus designation we can work to leverage it as a pipeline so that more SU students can connect with a variety of UN agencies” said Polkinghorn.   

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website.