Holy Cross Again Named Among Nation’s Top Producers of Student Fulbright Awards

In its annual list, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the College of the Holy Cross was one of the top producers of Fulbright scholarships for U.S. students again this year. Listed among the top undergraduate colleges, five 2010 graduates received Fulbright grants to live and study abroad for the year. A total of 25 students applied for the highly competitive grant.

“Cultural exchange is at the heart of the Fulbright Scholarship, and, for several reasons, Holy Cross students are very well suited for this task,” said Anthony Cashman, director of the Office of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies. “The College emphasizes foreign language instruction as well as full-immersion study abroad programs, and these two parts of our curriculum help to produce a lot of individuals who possess strong language skills and who have demonstrated that they can adapt and thrive in a foreign environment. In addition, Holy Cross students are highly interested in public service, and for a Fulbright selection committee, this is a sure sign that a candidate will jump into a society and be useful.”

“As a Fulbright recipient I am honored to have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of Ukrainian culture and society,” said Kaitlyn Mearn ’07 who was awarded a Fulbright grant to research and study in an intensive Ukrainian language program at the Ivan Franko National University of L’viv. “The Holy Cross liberal arts curriculum gave me experience conducting research in different fields of study. This flexibility has helped me plan and organize my research of Ukrainian language politics. The support and advice I received from my professors and the graduate studies office was invaluable.”

Started in 1946, the international academic-exchange program offers grants that are awarded by binational Fulbright commissions and financed by the U.S. government and the government of each country in which the awards are available. This year the United States contributed nearly $221 million to the fellowships. About 1,500 students and 1,300 scholars from the United States and abroad are studying and working on Fulbrights this academic year.

The five Holy Cross Fulbright winners, and their current places of study, are:

* John Vo ’09, Vietnam Arts Grant * Connor Hayden ’10, Turkey English Teaching Assistant * Stacy Nazzaro ’10, Argentina English Teaching Assistant * Olivia Pruszko ’10, Bulgaria English Teaching Assistant * Kaitlyn Mearn ’07, Ukraine Research



By Claire Moynahan '11