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by Sue Kropp
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About the Fellowship
JULY 17, 2002--For most graduating seniors, fellowships offer an opportunity to travel, to learn, and to expand interests cultivated during the college years. Design-it-yourself fellowships like the ones offered by the Watson Foundation have taken Obies around the world, to Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. For Morgan Williams '02, however, Oberlin is the place he now calls home. But that hasn't stopped Williams from garnering a fellowship--and using it to the town's advantage.
Williams, who graduated in May with a B.A. in environmental studies, recently received a fellowship from the Compton Foundation's Mentor Fellowship Program. This newly created fellowship is awarded to graduates who are "interested in improving the peace, population, sustainable development, or the environment of developing countries by committing to careers of interest to the program within the developing world."
Williams' project will address these issues by putting him in the thick of Oberlin's current development trend. By working with members of Oberlin's City Planning Department and with Northstar Planning and Design, Inc., an outside firm contracted by the city, Williams hopes to educate Oberlin residents about the city's development plans and increase civic participation in the development process. Williams will also work to incorporate principles of sustainable development into the city's new comprehensive land-use plan.
"Oberlin has recently allocated the money to develop a plan that investigates the possibility of residential, commercial, and retail development in the city," says Williams. "The plan will examine if Oberlin residents want to see their community develop further, and--if so--where and in what way? A big part of my project will be researching and responding to the needs of the community."
Public forums and seminars are being organized, with the help of the Oberlin Design Initiative (ODI), to educate the public on issues of land development and city planning. Using ODI's office as a base, Williams will create displays that include posters, maps, and pictures gathered from development sites around Oberlin.
"More and more I find I'm developing relationships with people in the Oberlin community, and that this town is becoming home for me," Williams says. "I want to be a part of this community, and help it grow and develop through a collaborative partnership of city government and residents."
Please send comments, questions, and suggestions about Oberlin Online news and feature articles to online.news@oberlin.edu.
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