Fugee emcee turned politician Wyclef Jean can now add scholar to his resume after accepting a fellowship at Brown University in Rhode Island.
According to published reports, Wyclef has been selected as a visiting fellow at Brown University, where he will lecture and teach in the Department of Africana Studies for the 2010-11 academic.
The 37-year-old former Haiti Presidential hopeful recently visited Brown, where he met with faculty and staff about the upcoming school year.
“We are delighted to welcome Wyclef Jean to the Department of Africana Studies and to Brown University,” Professor of Africana studies and department chair Tricia Rose told press.
“As an Africana Studies visiting fellow, Jean is planning on engaging in discussions on campus and remotely, as appropriate, throughout this school year generated by Brown’s Haitian Initiative and the faculty in Africana Studies.”
As a Brown University Fellow, Clef will participate in Brown University’s Haiti Initiative, which is focused on restoring Haiti’s health, education and cultural sectors.
“He is thrilled to have joined the Brown family, something we have been working on for many weeks,” a spokesperson from Wyclef’s camp said in a statement.
“Since it became clear he wouldn’t be a candidate in this election and needed to take this time as a gift to prepare for leadership more thoroughly,”
Clef who stated that he is a “lifelong student”, states that he looks to use his time at Brown University as a period of “learning and reflection,” also announced that his plans of re-entering the Haitian Presidential race in 2015.
In addition to Wyclef, Brown University also plans to collaborate with St. Damien Hospital in Tabarre, Haiti, to address the unmet need for medics, which will also serve as an educational mechanism for Haitian medical students.
