This fall, the College inaugurated a new program aimed at assisting a select group of first-years and sophomores with academic work outside of the classroom. The Schupf Scholars program, designed to usher students into research and internship opportunities, was piloted two years ago and is in its first complete year at the College.

Financed by Axel Schupf '57, the College founded the program with the intent of providing extended academic and scholarly opportunities to the students of Amherst. Schupf, a life trustee of the College, has been involved in many such undertakings, and is "a very generous benefactor of the College," according to Dean of Faculty Gregory Call.

In the course of his philanthropy, Schupf has endowed an Asian languages and civilizations professorship, co-chaired a fundraising campaign, and financed much of the Faculty Research and Awards Program.

In the spring of 2006, the College offered admission to the Schupf Scholars program to a group of accepted students. One student matriculated and worked closely with Dean Call and one of his colleagues in the mathematics department over the past summer. Two additional sophomores joined the ranks of the Schupf Scholars this fall, after being nominated by their professors in their first year.

In this "first full year" of the program, the College admitted seven first-year Schupf Scholars. The Office of Admissions nominates accepted students to the Program, choosing those with "particular academic passions," according to Dean Call. These students have shown their dedication to scholarship by working in labs over high school summers or, in one case, writing hundreds of short stories.

In addition to their motivated academic activities in high school, some of the Schupf Scholars already have specific research and professional interests. Emma Fink '11 knows that she is interested in genetic and biological research, and intends to pursue a pre-med curriculum; she plans to begin her research in a laboratory during Interterm.

"The scholarship is funding me to work in Professor Goutte's lab this semester on a genetics project, and would allow me to continue the project during Interterm or fund me for an internship elsewhere," said Rebecca Resnick '10. "I think the biggest impact of the program is bringing my own funding. Having the recognition of the scholarship gives me a lot of flexibility in terms of summer internships."

Resnick added that another good aspect of the program is that it allows all the scholars to establish connections with each other and share ideas as well as experiences.

Dean Call, one of the primary backers of this project, sees the Schupf Scholars Program as part of an "overall College initiative" to support undergraduate research. Working within the framework of such existing programs as the Amherst Academic Intern Program, which provides for students to work individually with faculty, the Schupf Scholars are given the flexibility to pursue scholarly work. The Schupf Scholars program allows for its participants to work in places including non-governmental organizations, laboratories and other research settings.

Each student receives a faculty mentor to guide him or her through the program and into research opportunities. The associated faculty come from departments including chemistry, mathematics, biology and philosophy. Most of the students will be making use of the program during either Interterm or over the summer of 2008, giving each student time to discern the intricacies of this new and exciting scholars program.

The flexibility of the program may cause some skepticism. Dean Call emphasized that "we are still developing our ideas."

However, the students involved give generally favorable reviews of the nascent program. The Schupf Scholars program is an example of the commitment that the College administration and faculty gives to the students. Within a larger framework of programs, one can easily see the emphasis and importance that Dean Call and his associates have placed on undergraduate research. Through the creation of the Schupf Scholars, Amherst has taken another step down the road to providing the best possible education for its students.

"The program is quite new, and so all of us are largely making things up as we go along to see what works best for the Schupf scholars," said Professor of Philosophy Jyl Gentzler. "At the same time, though, it's hard to imagine that the opportunities that the scholarship will provide to the scholars are anything other than great."