First Cohort: 1975–1976 Fellows
First 15 Fellows Chosen in Council’s Minority Fellowship Program
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) awarded fellowships to 15 minority students in the initial year of its Minority Fellowship Program. In the process of implementing this National Institute of Mental Health-supported program, CSWE received and responded to 550 inquiries.
The recipients were chosen from a total of 169 applicants after careful review of their potential for and/or interest in indigenous research, their background in and commitment to social work, and their interest and participation in their ethnic minority communities.
The CSWE Fellows chosen for 1975–1976 are listed below by last name.
Rodolfo Borrego
Rodolfo Borrego received his MSW degree from California State University at Fresno in June 1972. His professional experience includes clinical social work and community organizing with the Visalia Community Counseling Services, Visalia, CA. He will leave this organization, where he was chief of outpatient services, to enter the doctoral program at Columbia University School of Social Work.
Maria M. Correa
Maria M. Correa graduated from the Columbia University School of Social Work and is leaving her position as assistant professor at the Fordham University School of Social Work to reenter the doctoral program at Columbia. Her professional experience includes practice with the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT, and the Office of Public Health of New York City. She also has been a field instructor for Hunter College at Beth Israel Medical Center.
Jeremiah P. Cotton
Jeremiah P. Cotton is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, which he attended following considerable community involvement in a range of professional and voluntary positions. He will be studying for a doctoral degree at the University of Michigan. (Deceased)
Gladys E. Drummond
Gladys E. Drummond, initially a teacher in Puerto Rico and the United States, received her MSW from Florida State University. She will be on educational leave from the Psychiatric Institute at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami while pursuing her doctoral studies at Florida State.
Yolanda I. Diaz-Perez
Yolanda I. Diaz-Perez is a 1973 graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Social Work. Her professional experience includes vocational rehabilitation with the Department of Social Services and school social work with the Department of Public Instruction in Puerto Rico. She leaves the latter position in Santurce, PR, to begin her doctoral work at the University of Denver.
Joseph S. Gallegos
Joseph S. Gallegos received his master’s degree from the Portland State University School of Social Work in 1973. He has done family counseling with the Chicano-Indian Study Center of Oregon. His major professional activities have been with César Chávez College in Mt. Angel, Oregon, from which he leaves the position of director of planning and research to enter the doctoral program at the University of Denver. As a student, Mr. Gallegos was active in CSWE as a member of the House of Delegates and as a participant in the Chicano Faculty Development Project.
Kasumi K. Hirayama
Kasumi K. Hirayama holds an MSW in social groupwork and an advanced certificate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work. She has had various social work experience in Japan, Germany, and the United States. She was most recently employed as a social worker supervisor at the Southern Home for Children in Philadelphia and will enter the doctoral degree program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Belva L. Kaulay
Belva L. Kaulay has just completed her BS in human services at Metro State College in Denver, CO. Previously she worked as a coordinator at the St. Francis Indian School in South Dakota and as a counselor with the Federal Youth Center in Colorado. She will enter the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver to earn her MSW.
George K. Okazaki
George K. Okazaki was most recently an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii School of Social Work. He earned his MSW degree there and subsequently worked in public welfare and as a medical social worker. In October he will begin his doctoral studies in social work at the University of Utah.
Anita L. Polk
Anita Polk, after a career that included community relations director and deputy director of the Urban League of Cleveland, and editor for the Pittsburgh Courier, received her MSW in 1965 from the School of Applied Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. She now plans to return there to study for a doctoral degree.
Albert M. Pooley
Albert M. Pooley is a 1973 graduate from the University of Utah School of Social Work. He will leave his position as an instructor at Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO, to seek his doctoral degree at the University of Denver. His previous experience includes that of social work associate at the Public Health Services Indian Hospital and with the Veterans Administration in Utah. He has also worked as a research assistant at Brigham Young University and as an instructor at the University of Utah Western Regional Alcoholism Training Center.
Margaret Romero Dieppa
Margaret Romero Dieppa is a 1973 graduate of the University of Southern California School of Social Work. She previously worked in the Social Service Department in New Mexico. Subsequent to earning her MSW she worked with the Denver County Welfare Department and in the Office of Student Life at the University of Denver. She will enter the doctoral program at the University of Denver School of Social Work.
Essie T. Seek
Essie T. Seek received her master’s degree from the University of Southern California School of Social Work in 1973. Prior to this, she worked as a group worker with the Neighborhood Youth Association and as a counselor with the Kaiser Foundation Parent-Child Guidance Center in California. She was employed most recently at the Institute for Child Advocacy in Los Angeles and leaves the position of project director to return to the University of Southern California to seek her doctoral degree.
Wilfred Yazzie
Wilfred Yazzie will seek his MSW at the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Utah. He has been a social service representative with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a probation officer and welfare worker with the Navajo tribe in Arizona.
Roger T. Yoshikami
Roger T. Yoshikami is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he earned his MSW in 1971. He previously worked in Head Start and with the California Youth Authority. Subsequent to receiving his MSW he worked with the Human Resources Agency and the Children’s Home Society in Oakland, CA. He will seek his doctoral degree at the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Work.
"First fifteen fellows chosen in Council’s minority fellowship program." (1975, September). Social Work Education Reporter, 23(3), 8–9, 13.