Launched to help promote greater diversity in the U.S. Foreign Service, the Rangel Fellowship Program was announced in 2002 by Secretary of State Colin Powell, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, and the President of Howard University, H. Patrick Swygert.
[1] In the early years of the program, the U.S. Congress provided an appropriation for the program, and its early operations were supported by the Department of State and contributions by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Una Chapman Cox Foundation.
[1] The program is managed by the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State.
[1][2] The fellowships help finance two-year graduate programs and provide two paid summer internship opportunities, one on Capitol Hill and the second at a U.S.
[2] Rangel Fellows also receive mentoring from Foreign Service Officers throughout the duration of the program.