Minority Recruitment Initiative

Program Description

The Minority Recruitment Initiative (MRI) began in 2002 as a pilot program at the University of Oregon, Department of Philosophy, to recruit African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian-American Ph.D. students. MRI sponsored an on-campus conference held November 15 and 16, 2002 that included sessions on graduate student research, faculty research, and individual meetings with the visiting students about the process of applying to graduate school. An article about the 2002 conference can be viewed at http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/200305.conversation.html.

The second MRI Conference was held on campus Friday and Saturday, November 19 and 20, 2004. In addition to the sessions included in 2002 and 2004, the program also included a more general introduction to the graduate study of philosophy. Since admission standards for the graduate philosophy program at Oregon are highly competitive and participation in the on-campus program does not guarantee acceptance, we believe it is important to encourage students to have a number of graduate school options in their application process even as they learn more about advanced study in philosophy.

Financial assistance for students of color in philosophy at the University of Oregon is competitive with assistance provided by most other graduate philosophy programs. Students (given satisfactory academic progress) are eligible for up to four years of assistance as graduate teaching fellows. Students entering through the MRI program also can receive a first year stipend and summer research funding for up to four summers provided by the UO Graduate School.

Nomination materials include the following (see the links for copies of the required forms; also see Application Information Memo at http://philosophy.uoregon.edu/mriApplicationMemo.htm):

— MRI Application
— One letter of nomination (see Nomination Letter Form)
— One additional letter of recommendation (see Recommendation Letter Form)
     (Note that at least one letter must be from a Philosophy faculty member)
— A short writing sample of no more than 10 pages
— A statement of interest of no more than one page
— An official or unofficial transcript from your current institution

Nominees should be students of color who are juniors or senior majors in philosophy and considering graduate study in the field. Those selected to participate in the program will visit campus at our expense for the weekend conference. Students who decide to apply for admission to the University of Oregon graduate philosophy program must then file a complete application for admission (see http://philosophy.uoregon.edu/grad/app.html for more information).

Click here to see the 2004 MRI Conference Agenda. Click here to see photos from the 2004 MRI Conference.

If you have questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact us at mri@uoregon.edu.