“It was pretty clear at that stage I wasn’t going to become an engineer, but I also had no idea what I was going to do after I graduated,” Decatur recalls.
A professor in a Black literature course helped Decatur make up his mind, by encouraging him to apply for a new fellowship designed to increase the number of college professors of color. In 1989, Decatur became one of the first recipients of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship.
The fellowship paid for a small stipend during Decatur’s junior and senior years, travel to academic conferences, two summer research projects and regular social gatherings with faculty members.
