BUNCHE INSTITUTE AT U.VA. SLATED FOR N.S.F. GRANT 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 17 -- The Ralph Bunche Summer
Institute at the University of Virginia has learned that it is to
receive a $246,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to
further its goals of persuading promising African-American
undergraduates to pursue careers in political science.
	When top African-American students have a world of options
to choose from, it's tough to persuade them to consider careers as
academics in political science, says Paula McClain, chair of U.Va.'s
Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs. 
	"The award is gratifying, coming as it does from such a
prestigious organization as the National Science Foundation, because
it shows the esteem in which the Bunche Institute is held and
acknowledges the program's success in furthering the N.S.F. mission
of promoting research in the sciences," said McClain.
	McClain said the award would provide a "solid funding base"
for the Bunche Institute for the next three summers.  It will enable
organizers to expand and enrich the program in a number of ways,
including adding some teaching assistants and offering funds to
support 15 students, five more than last year.
	Launched in 1986 by the American Political Science
Association at Southern University, a traditionally black
institution, and at Louisiana State University, a predominantly
white institution, the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute was conceived
to encourage a small number of promising black students to consider
careers in political science.  Normally, the institute moves from
one university to another every three years, but will stay at U.Va.
for a fourth year, thanks to the grant. 	Before coming to
U.Va., it was hosted by Emory University in Atlanta and co-sponsored
by Spelman College, Morehouse College and Georgia State University. 
	Over the past decade, more than 200 students have attended
the institute, which honors Ralph Bunche, the first African American
to earn a doctorate in political science. The institute's first
graduates are now completing their dissertations and entering the
professoriate. 
	The five-week institute brings rising college seniors, all
political science majors, to Charlottesville from around the
country.  The students take two graduate-level courses, one in
research methods and analysis, and the second in race and American
politics.  The program schedule is filled out with cultural events
at area attractions and speakers on a range of related topics.
	With this gift, the N.S.F. has become the primary sponsor of
the institute, with continuing support from the offices of U.Va.'s
president and provost, the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government
and Foreign Affairs, and the American Political Science Association. 
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January 16, 1997
	For more information, call Paula McClain, professor and
chair of the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign
Affairs, (804) 924-3614; Steven Finkel, government professor and
director of the institute, (804) 924-6994; or Sue Miska, assistant
director, (804) 924-3500.  Television reporters should call our TV
News Office at (804) 924-7550.