The George J. Mitchell Scholarships are administered by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. Winners of the prestigious George J. Mitchell Scholarships are selected to pursue a year of postgraduate study at universities on the island of Ireland. Students are selected on the basis of academic merit, leadership, and service.
Created in 1998, the scholarship program was named in honor of U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who was chair of the Northern Ireland peace talks. The scholarships were originally funded by the U.S Department of State. Now the program is supported by Ireland’s Department of Education and Skills, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer, and the American Ireland Fund.
This year, 12 Mitchell Scholars were chosen from a field of 326 applicants. One of the 12 winners is Black.
Fatoumata Keita is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she majored in government and business. A native of Guinea in West Africa, Keita came to the United States at the age of 13 and settled in The Bronx, New York. She now works for Bloomberg Philanthropies. In Ireland, Keita plans to study gender and women’s studies at Trinity College Dublin.
“I am truly humbled to receive this scholarship; for me it is another reminder that anything is possible with determination and the right support,” said Keita upon learning she had been selected as a Mitchell Scholar. “I’m honored to represent the college among this year’s cohort of Mitchell Scholars and look forward to what I know will be many wonderful experiences in Ireland.”
