What if you received $54,740 to conduct research? You also received access to any library resources on campus you needed and you got to travel. The catch? You had to research on Texas History. Would you do it?

Fulfilling these requirements is no problem for the graduate students who will be receiving a residential fellowship through the Summerlee Foundation.

According to their website, www.summerlee.org, the Summerlee Foundation is committed to supporting “research and education projects on the history of Texas.”

As a result of the foundation giving SMU’s Clements Center a $164,200 grant, three graduate students will be able to receive a residential fellowship and conduct research at no cost. The grant is to be used over the next three school years (2009-2012) and the first recipient of the fellowship, for the 2009-2010 school year will be announced in spring of next year.

Students who are chosen to receive the funding to help them in their graduate research are generally interested in Southwest Studies. They choose to come to SMU’s Clement Center for Southwest Studies to write and complete their book on a topic related to the Southwest.

The Summerlee Foundation grants are hopefully the continuation of more funding being given to lesser known departments at the university.