Coveted Rockefeller Fellowships Awarded

Four Harvard seniors last Friday won prestigious Rockefeller Fellowships which will fund their travels abroad following graduation next year.

The prestigious stipends were awarded to Valerie A. Barton, of Quincy House and New York City; Andrea Fastenberg, of Dunster House and New York City; Jeffrey L. Goldberg, of Dunster House and Brookline, Mass.; and Jake Stevens, of Mather House and New Haven, Conn.

The Rockefeller family established the fellowships--awarded annually to four Harvard seniors--to honor Michael C. Rockefeller '60, who died while on a post-graduation trip to Papua, New Guinea.

Applicants must write a proposal for overseas travel and experience. Almost 40 undergraduates were nominated for the award by their houses, but only ten finalists were interviewed by the selection committee, one of the recipients said yesterday.

Like Rockefeller, winners of the fellowship are at a "crossroads in their life...facing questions about what they want to do next," said Melinda S. Walsh, director of fellowships at the Office of Career Services.

"It should be some kind of journey of self-exploration, while you get to know another culture different from your own," Walsh said.

Recipients must demonstrate "commitment and sincerity" in an application showing academic and extracurricular involvement. Candidates must also submit two letters of recommendation.

The fellowship provides $7500 for use at the student's discretion, and only requires one mid-year report and a final presentation of their experience at an annual June conference the year that they return.

Barton, former president of the Philips Brooks House, said yesterday she plans to spend her fellowship stipend working with children in refugee camps in the Philippines.

The Sociology concentrator also said that teaching Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese children English will help her learn more about Asian cultures. Barton said she also wants to gauge Philippinos' response to "refugees in their midst".

Barton, who will spend most of her time in small, rural areas, said she was undeterred by the current political turmoil in the Pacific country.

Fastenberg, a Social Studies concentrator, said she will work with street-children in Latin America, probably in Colombia, as part of a UNICEF or church organization.

A former CityStep dancer and member of the Hillel's Soviet Jewry Committee, Fastenberg told the seven-member fellowship panel that she wants to use the funding to support herself while helping unemployed youths find jobs.

Another Rockefeller winner, Jeffrey Goldberg, proposed using his award for a journey to Senegal and Nigeria to learn about African drumming as an apprentice to traditional drummers.

Jake Stevens, an Undergraduate Council member and former president of the Gay and Lesbian Student Association, planned to return to Nicaragua, where he traveled this past summer, to study the political interaction of an English-speaking Black minority and the revolutionary Sandinista government.

The seven-member committee which awards the fellowships consists of two former Rockefeller fellows, three University officials, and two representatives of the Rockefeller family