Funding from such sources as the U.S. State Department, the National Security Education Program and The Rotary Foundation will allow them to go to other countries to gain international experience, conduct research, master a foreign language or act as a goodwill ambassador for the United States.
Student recipients
Jeffrey Benedict received a Graduate Boren Fellowship for International Study in the area of law and the Turkish language in Istanbul. He also won a Critical Language Scholarship, but declined it to accept the Boren Fellowship. Benedict is a native of Gahanna, Ohio, a third-year law student and a past recipient of the George Mitchell Scholarship, one of the most esteemed scholarships offered for study in Ireland. Boren Fellowships are funded by the National Security Education Program. The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funds Critical Language Scholarships. Benedict is an ROTC 2nd lieutenant.
Cody Gault received an English-Speaking Union Scholarship from the Kentucky chapter of the organization to attend the Art History Summer Program at the University of Cambridge in England. He is a senior art history and English major from Elizabethtown.
Joseph LaCasse received a Gilman International Scholarship for intensive Spanish study at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a sophomore biology major and Brown Fellow from Madisonville. Gilman scholarships are funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
Nicole Moran received an English-Speaking Union Scholarship from the Kentucky chapter of the organization to attend the summer Creative Writing Program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. A native of Alexandria, Ky., she is a senior majoring in English, history and humanities.
Adria Schwarber received an Undergraduate Boren Scholarship for International Study in Japanese language and environmental issues at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Kyushu, Japan. She also received a Gilman International Scholarship to study with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies in Japan. From Bellevue, Ky., Schwarber is a junior majoring in political science and chemistry.
Amanda Yee received a Critical Language Scholarship to Cairo, Egypt, to participate in an intensive Arabic language program. Yee is a junior anthropology major from Greenville, Ind.
Recent graduate recipients
Christopher Cunningham received a Critical Language Scholarship to study the Punjabi language in India. Cunningham is a 2005 graduate from Louisville. He is a past Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Northern Ireland, and earned a master of art’s degree in comparative ethnic conflict at Queen’s University in Belfast.
Lelia Rechtin received a UofL College of Arts and Sciences Mary Churchill Humphrey Graduate Scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in design and innovation for sustainability at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, England. Rechtin, a 2010 graduate, is from Henry County, Ky.
Robert Works received a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study international relations and conduct research on the Mexican judicial system at Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. The Rotary Foundation funds the award. Works is a 2010 graduate from Independence, Ky., and the winner of this year’s Woodcock Medal, which UofL’s College of Arts and Sciences awards to an outstanding graduate. Works is a former McConnell Scholar.
Jessica Barousse received a Critical Language Scholarship to study Urdu language. Barousse, a veteran Air Force staff sergeant and 2009 graduate from Knoxville, Tenn., will turn down her scholarship to accept a post with the U.S. State Department.
This has been a record year for the UofL students and recent graduates to receive prestigious scholarships.
UofL has had 12 Fulbright scholars so far in 2010. In fall 2009, 2009-10 Fulbright Scholar Monica Marks received a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford.
UofL’s National and International Scholarship Programs Office, headed by Patricia Condon, works with student applicants for these awards.