Tarbutton Leadership Fellows Program
The Tarbutton Leadership Fellows Program (TLF) was established through a generous gift by Hugh Tarbutton in memory of his father, Hugh Tarbutton, Sr. (52OX 55B). TLF seeks to cultivate and support a cohort of diverse and highly talented student leaders by providing financial, programmatic, and mentoring resources to help a select group of students craft meaningful leadership experiences in the summer after their first year at Oxford College.
How are TLF participants selected?
TLF participants are selected from a group of nominees created by the faculty and staff of Oxford College. Each nominator puts forward the name of a single candidate. Nominees are then invited to apply to participate in the program. The pool of nominees is then reviewed by the TLF committee as part of a selection process.
What can I do as a TLF participant?
That’s entirely up to you! A key strength of the TLF program is its flexibility and customizability. Selected fellows work with the TLF committee and their faculty mentor(s) to plan and implement a rewarding summer experience that will help the fellow to develop their potential as a leader.
In its inaugural year, the program supported 5 Oxford first-year students on exciting journeys of learning, leadership, and discovery. 2018-19 TLF fellows included Jamie Constantine, Ehren Fernandez, Kylett Jones, Odudu Mbaba and Eden Medina. These five students developed summer experiences that ranged from working in a community health clinic in Conyers to doing field research on gender roles on kibbutzim in Israel.
What type of support is provided by the TLF program?
The program provides three categories of support to fellows.
First, all fellows are awarded a grant that can be used to help fund or off-set the costs incurred in implementing the fellows’ summer plans.
Second, all fellows participate in a series of workshops aimed at helping them to develop professional competencies related to leadership. These workshops are exclusive to the fellows, and provide opportunities to work on things like career planning, reflecting and acting on personal values in the workplace, and crafting and refining professional documents (resumes, cover letters, etc.).
Third, fellows receive mentoring support from the members of the TLF committee. TLF committee members meet regularly with fellows to help them think clearly and strategically about their summer plans. TLF committee members continue to support fellows throughout the summer, and meet with the fellows in the fall of their second year at Oxford to guide fellows through critical reflection on their summer experience.
Tarbutton Leadership Fellows
- Cohort 1 - Summer 2019:
Eden Medina, Jamie Constantine, Kylett Jones, Odudu Mbaba, Ehren Fernandez - Cohort 2 - Summer 2020:
Akash Shanmugan, Grace Engel, Alex Zhong, Ruth Tilus - Cohort 3 - Summer 2021:
Harrison Goldberg, Dana Smiley, Jay Jones, Marian Moss - Cohort 4 - Summer 2022:
Doreen Okeh, Imaan Hasham, Chris Chen, Srija Potluri, Ananya Singh.
Who should I contact if I have questions about the TLF program?
Students with questions about the TLF program can contact Dr. Donald Beaudette (donald.beaudette@emory.edu) or Dr. Michele Hempfling (michele.hempfling@emory.edu).