Wyclef Jean Named Visiting Fellow at Brown University

He may have been rejected as a candidate for presidency in Haiti, but Wyclef Jean has been accepted at Rhode Island's Brown University. The Ivy League institution has accepted the producer/rapper/singer as a visiting fellow -- a scholar, practitioner invited to join the faculty for a limited time -- in its Department of Africana Studies for the 2010-11 academic year.

According to reports, Jean attended two lectures on his first visit to campus yesterday (Oct. 4) and will continue to sit in on lectures, classes and faculty meetings. 'Clef's agenda and classroom work will focus on his native Haiti.

"He is thrilled to have joined the Brown family, something we have been working on for many weeks since it became clear he wouldn't be a candidate in this election and needed to take this time as a gift to prepare for leadership more thoroughly," a spokesperson for Jean explained.

Jean was a mainstay in the news in August when he announced his bid for Haiti's presidency after spending months rallying for support post-earthquake. However, the singer-songwriter's bid was denied last month, and he was eventually disqualified from the race. According to his spokesperson, Jean hasn't given up his fight to help Haiti or make music. He's reportedly working on a new album, but there's no word on when that project will be released.