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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — www.ucr.edu — University of California, Riverside student Cecilia Vu is one of 25 students nationwide who has received the highly competitive Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color for 2007-08.

These fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding minority undergraduate students in the arts and sciences wishing to pursue graduate degrees in education and to teach in American public elementary or secondary schools.

Vu, a third-year liberal studies major, has dreamed of becoming a teacher since childhood. She was inspired by her parents who taught a seventh grade bible class for 15 years.

“My work ethic, my passion to share knowledge and my desire to inspire others comes from my parents,” Vu said. “They are my ideal role models and my inspirational door to my goal to become the best special education teacher.”

UCR’s Graduate School of Education (GSOE) has participated in the program since 1991 and Vu’s selection brings the number of UCR awardees to 15. Incoming fellows are required to complete a summer project between their junior and senior years. These projects, planned jointly by fellows and their mentors, provide students with direct teaching experience and are presented at a summer workshop in August in Washington, D.C.

Fellows can tap into as much as $22,100 to help finance graduate studies and internships over five years.

UCR undergraduate minority students in the arts and sciences who are in their third year and plan to pursue a graduate degree in education upon graduation are eligible to apply during fall quarter. Students must identify a mentor, a member of UCR’s faculty or staff, who will be responsible for assisting the fellow in planning a summer project, of providing supervision as needed during the final year of undergraduate study and for offering career guidance.

Founded in 1992, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Fellowships for Aspiring Teachers of Color have awarded fellowships to 325 college students. The goal of the fellowships is to increase the number of highly qualified teachers of color in K-12 public education in the United States. Each year, the RBF awards up to 25 fellowships to students of color entering the teaching profession.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

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