Increase Jibes with Goal of Enhancing Country’s Education Exchange Agenda
 
HARTFORD, Conn. – The number of Trinity students who have applied for Fulbright scholarships has risen to 19 this year, a marked increase from the 16 students who applied a year ago and the 10 who applied in 2007.

As a result of its promotion and participation in the program in 2009-2010, Trinity recently earned the congratulations of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, as well as the staff at the Institute of International Education (IIE). According to rankings published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Trinity had one of the highest participation rates for a bachelor’s degree-granting school, and one of the highest acceptance rates.

Indeed, Trinity was ranked number 21 out of 50 comparable colleges in the number of Fulbright scholars selected from the Class of 2009, vaulting it ahead of schools such as Middlebury, Skidmore, and Wesleyan. That ranking was based on the fact that of the 16 Trinity students who had applied, five had been accepted into the program.

But Olga Corazon Irizarry ’09, who originally was an alternate, recently learned that she was awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Peru, bringing Trinity’s total to six and making Trinity’s showing that much more impressive.

Anne Lundberg, director of internship and graduate fellowship programs, said of this year’s applicant pool, “They are truly some of Trinity’s most remarkable students.”

This year’s nominees include William Brennan, Judy Chiu, Samantha Colgan, Tess Donie, Amanda Furie, Jeannie Guzman, Andrew Grubin, Isis Irizarry, Denisa Jashari, Hanako Justice, Robert Key Jr., Sarah Khuwaja, Melissa Litwack, Jamie Merolla, Ezra Moser, Erin Mulvey, William Pollock, Bethany Riley, and Alyssa Simpson. All are members of the Class of 2010.

Of Trinity’s 19 applicants, 16 would like to teach English and three would prefer to do research. Their desired destinations span 15 countries, among them Argentina, India, Norway and Turkey.

The Fulbright Program, this country’s flagship international exchange program, is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department, and overseen by the IIE. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from Congress, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 294,000 participants worldwide with the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. In the past 63 years, more than 42,000 students from the U.S. have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

The increase in the number of Trinity applicants is in keeping with the growing popularity of the program, attributed in part to the lagging economy and the laudable goal of more young people desiring to become citizens of the world by studying, conducting research or teaching English abroad.

As of the end of October, about 8,500 applications had been submitted to the IIE. That was about 1,000 more than a year ago. About 1,500 Fulbright scholarships are awarded to students each year to study, teach English, and conduct research in as many as 140 countries.

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