Since 1949, 55 Colorado College students have been named Fulbright grantees; in March 2022, nine students are waiting to hear if they will join their ranks in the prestigious program.
The semifinalists are:
- Kathryn Barnes ’19, study award in computer science to Hungary
- Samantha Caro ’22, research award in economics and mathematics to Norway
- Nick Cleveland-Stout ’22, research award in international relations to Brazil
- Grace Evans ’22, English Teaching Assistant award to Greenland
- Mabel Gardner ’22, English Teaching Assistant award to Spain
- Claire McCallum ’22, English Teaching Assistant award to Germany
- Sophie Pelletier ’22, English Teaching Assistant award to Mexico
- Isabelle Smith ’21, research award in political science to Senegal
- Tia Vierling ’22, English Teaching Assistant award to Kenya
“Our students are genuinely interested in connecting with the world, and these semifinalists exemplify that in practice,” says Roy Jo Sartin, CC’s Fulbright adviser since 2015. “All of their proposed Fulbright projects, from graduate study to independent research to English language teaching, will allow them to engage meaningfully not only with their own passions, but also with the peoples and cultures of their chosen host countries.”
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers recent graduates and graduate students opportunities for researching, studying, and teaching in approximately 150 countries. Fulbright recipients spend their time meeting, working with, living with, and learning from people in the host country.
This fosters cultural knowledge and appreciation through direct interaction in the classroom, field, home, and routine tasks, giving the recipients an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and how they think.
Grant dates and lengths vary by host country. Fulbright grantees are encouraged to bring home what they have learned and teach others about the cultures they experienced.
“The goal of the Fulbright program is to create mutual understanding between nations through person-to-person cultural exchange, and thus all countries that participate in the program do so as equal partners with the U.S. State Department. This philosophy resonates strongly with CC students,” Sartin says.
She explains that the Fulbright program receives about 10,000 applications every year and bestows about 2,000 awards.
Research grantees can choose the location of their research within the country, but host countries decide the locations for the English Teaching Assistant award recipients.
The CC Fulbright committee helps applicants strengthen their applications before the national process. Members are Assistant Director of Global Education Heather Powell Browne; Director of Faculty Research Support Tess Powers; Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Education Specialist Chelsea Walter; Director of Global Education Allen Bertsche; and Sartin.
The process is a painstaking one: Last year, applications opened on March 1, the campus deadline to declare intent to apply was July 1, the campus deadline to apply was Sept. 12, and the national deadline was Oct. 12.
Separate Fulbright committees for each country and for each award review applications in the late fall and the semifinalists are announced by the end of January.
The Fulbright National Screening Committee has forwarded the semifinalist applications to the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy in each host country for final review in early spring.
Final status of all semifinalists will be determined and announced on a rolling, country-by-country basis between now and June.
For information about the application process, email Sartin at rsartin@coloradocollege.edu.