Kenyon once again has been recognized as one of the colleges and universities with the highest number of students selected for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Today’s announcement from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs honored the College for valuing global connection and supporting members of the campus community in pursuing international opportunities.
Six Kenyon students were selected for the program for the 2023-24 academic year, qualifying the College as a “top producer” and ranking it among the top 27 Baccalaureate institutions nationally. Kenyon, a longtime leader among liberal arts institutions in producing these international scholars, has received this designation 13 times since 2009-10.
The College also had one faculty member selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar this year.
“We should all be proud of the students recognized by Fulbright this year,” said Provost Jeff Bowman. “Kenyon’s regular presence on the list of top producers of Fulbrights is an inspiring sign of the hard work, imagination and global engagement of Kenyon students and faculty. It is one vivid illustration of how we build intellectual and personal bridges between Gambier and the wider world.”
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds have been given the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad in over 160 countries.
The College’s success with the program has gotten the attention of officials nationally.
“This achievement is a testament to your institution’s deep commitment to international exchange and to building lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken wrote in a letter to Kenyon President Julie Kornfeld. “Kenyon College’s designation as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution clearly demonstrates your dedication to promoting global engagement and mutual understanding among the peoples and nations of the world. “
This dedication is exemplified by the likes of Ngone Fall ’23, a biology major from Newark, New Jersey, who is teaching English in Senegal with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. In a recent newsletter she prepared for loved ones back home, Fall described the transformative experience she is having.
“I work Tuesday and Thursday at Lycee Galandou Diouf and Wednesdays at the embassy leading our conversation clubs and STEM workshops. I have students of all ages (16-65 yrs old) between the two places and it is so beautiful watching the English language flourish and be our point of connection,” she wrote.
Fall, a Senegalese American, was deeply involved as a student leader during her time in Gambier. A captain of the track and field team and student manager of Snowden Multicultural Center, she also was a KEEP scholar and teaching assistant, senior admissions fellow, and researcher and lab technician in the biology department.
There have been challenges in her work in Senegal, she wrote, but her time at Kenyon provided her with a strong compass to navigate them.
“It’s been an adjustment coming from a place like Kenyon [where] inspiring the next generation and learning through teamwork and collaboration is at the center of education,” she wrote. “When I am working with my students, I try to embody that same energy.”
Student Fulbright programs are supported at Kenyon through the Office of Academic Advising and Support and the Office of National Fellowships and Scholarships; faculty Fulbright Scholars are supported by the Office for Sponsored Faculty Projects.
In his letter to Kornfeld, Blinken called particular attention to the efforts of two staff members.
“I would like to recognize [Assistant Director of Academic Advising] Betsy Billiter and [Dean for Academic Advising and Support] Thomas Hawks for their support of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on your campus as the designated Fulbright Program Advisers,” he wrote.
Overall, Fulbright alumni have included 41 heads of state or government, 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows and countless others who contribute to mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit fulbrightprogram.org.