LEWISTON, Maine -- Sze Wei Ang, a Bates College senior from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been named a 2000 Phillips Student Fellow and will receive a grant of up to $10,000 to study the ethnic, cultural and racial tensions encountered by the indigenous Orang Asli peoples of Malaysia.

Ang, an English and Chinese major at Bates, plans to study how urbanization, mandatory non-indigenous education and the desire of the Malaysian government to assimilate the Orang Asli into Malay culture threaten the cultural integrity and heritage of the Orang Asli. Ang will collect oral histories among the Semai tribe in the northern state of Perak, under the auspices of the Center for Orang Asli Concerns.

Phillips Student Fellows each receive grants of up to $10,000 for summer projects in service-learning, career exploration, research or some combination of the three in international and other culturally distinct settings. The Phillips Student Fellowships, along with the Phillips Faculty Fellowships and Phillips Professorships at Bates, are part of the Phillips Endowment Program, an ambitious initiative of awards, honors and opportunities for faculty and students funded by a $9-million endowment bequest to the college from former Bates President Charles F. Phillips, and his wife, Evelyn Minard Phillips, in 1999.

The Phillips bequest is believed to be the largest gift ever from a U.S. college president and spouse to his or her institution. The Phillipses, longtime Auburn residents, officially served Bates from 1944 through 1966; Charles F. died in March 1999 just months after the death of Evelyn M., his wife of 65 years.

Also named 2000 Phillips Student Fellows are Kathryn Dutille '01 of Lebanon, N.H.; Margot Fine '03 of Scarsdale, N.Y.; Kristin Hines '02 of East Granby, Conn.; John Daniel Lichtman '02 of Woodbridge, Conn.; Christian McTighe '02 of Delmar, N.Y.; John Minor '02 of Wilmington, N.C.; and Mindy Newman '01 of Atlanta, Ga.

A dean's list student student at Bates, Ang is a member of the varsity squash team, Sangai Asia and the college's International Club. A graduate of SM Bukit Bandaraya, Ang is the daughter of Julie Tan and Ang Tian Phin of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Located midway between the coast and mountains in south-central Maine, Bates is a 145-year-old undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences and is rated among the top 25 national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Bates offers majors in 24 academic departments and eight interdisciplinary programs and encourages independent study, research in collaboration with faculty members and participation in off-campus programs.