Institute for Responsible Citizenship


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William A. Keyes | John T. Saunders | Elijah Heyward III

Elijah Heyward, III (I ’04) is director of the Youth Scholar Academy. He left his hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina to attend Hampton University. While there, he was a member of the W. E. B. DuBois Honor Society and participated in the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute. From Hampton, Heyward moved to New Haven, Connecticut to earn a Master’s degree in Theology at the Yale Divinity School. He was quite active at Yale, representing the Divinity School on the Yale College Council. Most notably, he pursued and was awarded the prestigious Yale President’s Public Service Fellowship.

The fellowship gave him the opportunity to establish a program that was based on an experience he had during his summers in the Institute. Heyward worked with a group of African American and Latino male eighth graders in the New Haven public school district. The program cultivated a sense of purpose and confidence within the students through educational enrichment activities, cultural awareness, and mentorship by talented African American men. During the summer, the boys were invited to visit Washington, D.C. to participate in a four-day program that was designed collaboratively with Institute scholars. In Washington, the boys participated in workshops, visited their senator and congressional representative, toured college campuses, and visited museums and cultural attractions. Most importantly, they spent the entire visit with Institute scholars who inspired them to stay in school, work hard, achieve academic success, and pursue their dreams. This experience is the model on which the Institute is building a new program. The Youth Scholar Academy is an important effort to serve the next wave of potential leaders.

Heyward was a member of the Inaugural Class of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship. During his first summer, he interned at the U. S. Department of Justice. The following summer, he interned in Howard Law School’s criminal law clinic.

The Institute for Responsible Citizenship
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