Bethel University

Yelena Bailey ’09 was awarded the prestigious Lilly Fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. and goal of becoming a professor of Latin American literature. Bailey is the first Bethel grad to be chosen for the program that supports outstanding students who want to explore the connections among Christianity, higher education, and the vocation of the teacher-scholar.

Her time at Bethel played an important role in shaping her career goals and leading to her academic successes. As an undergrad and an Edgren scholar, Bailey visited Cuba for two weeks with Bethel Spanish Professor Sandi Weightman. Together they studied the work of AfroCuban poet Nancy Morejón, examining Morejón’s literature and exploring ways it could be taught effectively in Spanish literature classrooms.

“It was the first time I got a chance to work on an academic paper and learn that there can be a connection between Spanish literature and social justice,” said Bailey. She graduated from Bethel with bachelor’s degrees in physics and Spanish and then went on to receive an M.A. in Hispanic Literature at the New York University program in Madrid; this fall, she begins a Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature at the University of California San Diego.

Barrett Fisher, dean of arts and humanities for Bethel University, recommended Bailey for the fellowship, a new program of the Lilly Fellows Program funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The 16 Fellows were selected by a nine-member selection committee who interviewed 24 finalists (selected from 66 applicants) in April. Bailey met with the other Fellows at an Inaugural Conference in early August and has now begun the three-year program. She will meet regularly with a mentor, attend four conferences, participate in a long-distance colloquium, and receive three annual stipends of $3,000.