By Brandon Fey, Assistant News Editor
The Civil War Institute (CWI) Fellows program is an annual offering for Gettysburg College students to take advantage of exclusive resources and programming related to the history of the U.S. Civil War. This has historically been a paid position; however, the 2024-2025 fellowship will not be offering a stipend for participants. While the announcement of this change has disappointed some of past and current fellows, many of the concerns about it have been fueled by common misunderstandings about the nature of the decision. Despite the removal of the stipend, the Fellows program will continue with more faculty members added to assist with it.
CWI Fellows participate in group excursions and work on individual projects on the U.S. Civil War. Previous projects have included the State of the Confederacy mapping project, The Gettysburg Compiler online publication, and the Voices From Gettysburg virtual forum of first-hand accounts of the Gettysburg Campaign.
Emily Jumba ’24 has been a CWI Fellow since her sophomore year at Gettysburg College. Following graduation, she will be pursuing a Ph.D. in American History at West Virginia University. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “The Fellows program highlighted just how great the Civil War Institute is. It introduced me to all these wonderful people, and to just how much I could learn from them.”
As Gettysburg College works to improve its financial situation, changes have been made across every part of campus. In light of this, CWI Director Dr. Peter Carmichael has expressed his determination to maximize the institute’s offerings given its available resources. Carmichael personally made the difficult decision to remove the stipend for the Fellows Program as part of an institute-wide restructuring plan. In doing this, he intends to prioritize immersive experiences and appeal to a greater number of students.
“As a faculty member who cares about the future of this institution, I have to look at ways to maximize resources. …that decision that I made is about doing all we can with what we have and to do more for the students, which we’ve done with this decision,” said Carmichael.
One of the ways he seeks to accomplish this is through the increased development of the Funded Internship Program, which provides Gettysburg College students with exclusive summer internship positions at historic sites across the country. As of April of 2024, the CWI has already committed $93,000 of endowed funds to support 29 students in paid internship positions in locations ranging from Little Big Horn, Mont., to Boston. Carmichael believes that the continued investment in the Funded Internship Program will equip more students with experiences that will greatly contribute to their applications for graduate schools and future employment opportunities.
“This shifting of the Fellows program has allowed us to have more immersive programs… In this current climate, I felt that it was important that we reach as many students as possible with these paid, immersive experiences,” stated Carmichael. “My obligation above all else is to help students find their professional way. This decision is going to enhance those possibilities.”
In addition to an expanded Funded Internship Program, the CWI Fellows program will also expand to involve Carmichael and Associate Director of CWI Dr. Jill Titus as well as Assistant Director of CWI Dr. Ashley Luskey, who led the program beforehand. Carmichael intends for the increased faculty involvement in the Fellows program to enhance the experience of each participant. Despite the chance, the number of applications for the upcoming fellowship cycle remains strong compared to those of previous years. Furthermore, the program is now also officially collaborating with the college’s Guided Pathways co-curricular advising program.
Sophomore CWI Fellow Margaret Matheson ’25 commented, “I am extremely grateful for the time that I had in the Fellows program. I owe a lot to the leadership and support of Dr. Ashley Luskey.”
In addition, the changes to the CWI will increase the number of students who can be reached in the classroom. The CWI, which houses the Civil War Era Studies and Public History minor, will continue to focus on enhancing the classroom experience by adding Dr. Luskey to the teaching faculty. She has extensive interpretive experience with the National Park Service that she will bring to her public history course. Her outreach can now expand from a group of just 10-12 fellows a year to a classroom of 25-30 students while continuing to work with the Fellows program.
Carmichael stated that his decision to eliminate the fellows’ stipend was not made lightly, but in addition to his other institutional improvements, he believes it was necessary to fulfill his obligation of reaching the most students with the best immersive experiences that he can provide.
“I believe that my decision will keep the Fellows program going strong for the long-term while strengthening CWI’s commitment to student professional development and our paid internship program,” stated Carmichael.
May 13, 2024
Asking students to do labor without compensation is exploitation. There are many other opportunities at the college that give students valuable experience related to public history AND pay them.