Fourteen recent graduates from the College of the Holy Cross have been awarded Fulbright grants to work and teach abroad during the 2013-14 academic year. This marks a record high number of Fulbrights awarded in a single year for the College. Since 2004, Holy Cross has received a total of 64 Fulbrights, and has consistently been among the nation’s top producers of Fulbright students at the undergraduate level.
The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is widely recognized as the most prestigious international exchange program in the world. The highly competitive grants are awarded on the basis of academic merit and professional promise.
This year’s recipients are headed to Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
“In this year’s Fulbright competition we had 28 finalists, and now 14 of our students will have unforgettable experiences that will further their academic and professional careers,” says Anthony B. Cashman, director of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies at the College. “The cultural exchange and the friendships that our students will form are some of the most important parts of the Fulbright award. There is nothing like living on your own in a foreign country to learn more about yourself.”
Cashman also adds that the College has tripled the number of applicants over the past five years. “In 2008-09, we had only 24 applicants and this year we had 63 applicants,” he says.
Each year approximately 1,700 U.S. college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, awards grants to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 300,000 participants — selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
This year’s recipients are: