Two PhD students at Drew University's Theological School in Madison have won Louisville Doctoral Fellowships, a competitive national award for future theological educators.

Lerato Pitso and Fellipe Dos Anjos Pereira will each receive $3,000 per year for two years, plus travel and lodging for three annual gatherings with a national cohort of doctoral fellows. The Louisville Institute, funded by the Lilly Endowment and based at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky, typically receives about 60 eligible applications per cycle and awards roughly 10 fellowships.

Drew University announced the awards in a July 9 press release. The university highlighted both students on its X account on Thursday, July 30.

Both fellows are international students. Pitso's scholarship draws on Ubuntu-shaped African women's theologies, her experience living through apartheid South Africa, and her African Methodist Episcopal Church tradition. Dos Anjos Pereira researches religion and ecology, with a focus on environmental justice.

"In times of hostility, Drew welcomed me, invested in my calling, and equipped me for new challenges in theological education and socio-environmental justice," Dos Anjos Pereira said in the university's announcement. "The Forest has become my home, my strength, and my foundation."

Pitso said the fellowship reflected more than individual achievement, crediting Drew's community for making space "so that those who come after us are able to stand and speak."

As fellows, Pitso and Dos Anjos Pereira will join the Louisville Institute's Vocation of the Theological Educator Initiative, attending formational gatherings in October, January, and May alongside their peer cohort. Both previously presented at Drew Theological School's 21st Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium, a three-day hybrid gathering themed "Apocalypse Now and When."

Drew Theological School's next public event is the 2026 Tipple Celebration Day on Thursday, Oct. 8.