MSU PLS senior Macken Keefe nominated for Mitchell Scholarship

October 17, 2022

MSU PLS senior Macken Keefe has been nominated for the prestigious Mitchell Scholarship.

Macken, an Honors College member, is also a joint master of public policy degree student in the College of Social Science and graduated from the Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California.

The US-Ireland Alliance established the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program, which allows up to 12 future American leaders to pursue a year of graduate study in Ireland and Northern Ireland. MSU has produced five Mitchell Scholars.

Macken is also a Political Science scholar whose research interests include immigration, intergroup contact, conflict resolution, judicial politics, and education. Currently, he is using Allport’s intergroup contact hypothesis to investigate the state of relations between Catholic Republicans and Protestant Unionists in 21st century Northern Ireland. So far, he has found that residential and educational segregation remains high between the two groups—particularly in Belfast and other post-conflict areas—resulting in the perpetuation of conflicting memories, resentment, and out-group anxieties. After he graduates from MSU, Macken plans to attend law school to study international law and property law.