The Chauncey Fellowship, which supports New Haven-area college graduates as they pursue self-designed projects in public service or the arts, has announced the recipients of its 2026 awards.
Thara Joseph, an ethics, politics, and economics major, and Avery Maples, a history major, both Yale seniors, will each receive $60,000 fellowships, administered by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, to develop their proposed projects in the year following their graduation.
Recipients also receive up to $10,000 in student loan repayment, generous health benefits, and $1,000 to donate to a charitable cause.
Established in 2023, the Chauncey Fellowship aims to remove financial barriers that may prevent graduates from working in the arts or community service. The fellowship is open to students from all New Haven-area colleges and universities.
The program, named in honor of Henry "Sam" Chauncey Jr. '57, former secretary of Yale and founder of Science Park in New Haven, is made possible by a financial gift from the late Edward B. ("Edder") Bennett III '84.
In addition to this year's recipients, the fellowship has supported four other graduates. Last year's recipients were Julien Sanchez-Levallois, who graduated in 2025 from Southern Connecticut State University, and Anya AitSahlia '25.
In the next year, Joseph will design a multimedia public art project, inspired by interviews with New Haven residents, that imagines how to create a more humane relationship with time.
For her project, Maples plans to share art's power of catharsis by commissioning "healing bowls" - modeled after Byzantine incantation bowls - for hospitals, elder care centers, and other locations.
Each year, nominators in New Haven-area colleges recommend students to apply for the program. After interviewing applicants, the Chauncey Fellowship committee selects two winners. Fellows are informed of their selection in their junior year; they then have a year to plan their projects before the fellowship begins.
