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University Honors Program

Reflecting on the Dean’s Summer Fellowship

By Kaitlin Lewis

Even though the program looked much different, senior Honors student Megan Passon took advantage of the Dean’s Summer Fellowship this past summer to progress further in her studies as a Flyer. 

The Dean’s Summer Fellowship is open to all undergraduate College of Arts and Science students to conduct research under the guidance of a UD faculty member. Passon, who is studying Criminal Justice Studies, Sociology and Political Science, said she applied to the Dean’s Summer Fellowship with the intention of finishing much of her capstone project before the fall semester. Passon worked with Dr. Martha Hurley, Director of the Criminal Justice Studies, who recommended Passon to apply for the program back in December 2019. 

“She was a great resource to have this summer when it came to finding academic journal articles to read or connecting me to faculty who specialized in my research,” Passon said. “She would mentor me almost every week over Zoom and check in with me to see how I was doing, both personally and with my work.” 

Due to COVID-19 guidelines, Passon completed the Summer Fellowship virtually at her home in Michigan instead of living on campus as students have in past years. Her research worked to find whether a correlation between hate crimes and political rhetoric exists. Passon said that this summer’s political climate added some stress during her research as she was hearing new political responses to the Black Lives Matter movement each day. 

“Between the news and my research, I was just constantly surrounded by negative rhetoric,” Passon said. “By the end of the summer, I had to take a step back from my research and take a moment to just process the much-needed conversations happening in our country.”

Passon ended by saying that getting experience in beginning a social science research project was the greatest takeaway from her summer, as it will set her apart as she looks towards her next step.

“I am in the process of applying to Master’s of Public Policy programs, so having research experience will be invaluable for my post-grad endeavors,” Passon said.

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