Awardees will travel to countries in Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe for 10 months of teaching and research, immersing themselves in new cultures. The University announced 12 Fulbright winners in early May; the number rose to 14 a few weeks later, and has now risen to 15, because of awards granted to students who had been named Fulbright alternates.

“We are overjoyed that we have a record number of Fulbright awardees this year! It’s a testament to the outstanding work of our students and alumni, and the faculty and staff who support them,” said Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of Fordham’s Office of Prestigious Fellowships.

She noted that Fordham’s number of applicants has risen from 25 to 38 over the past two years. “We’re working hard to let all our students know that they can apply,” she said. “There is no GPA cutoff or ‘right’ type of student. Fordham students are interested in service, and many have studied abroad, speak multiple languages, or come from multicultural backgrounds, so they make excellent Fulbright candidates.”

In February, for the sixth time, the U.S. State Department recognized Fordham for being one of the colleges and universities with the highest number of Fulbright awardees.

A Focus on Immigrants and Refugees

Jennifer Espinal, FCRH ’24, who grew up in the Bronx, is headed to Spain’s La Rioja province to work as an English teaching assistant. She hopes to expand her knowledge of Spanish—“I speak very ‘Nuyorican’ Spanish,” she joked—and learn more about the nation’s culture and its large refugee population.

Espinal double majored in history and Latin American and Latino studies, with a political science minor, and wants to become an attorney who serves immigrant families. She comes from one herself—her parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and her mother works as a custodian at the Rose Hill campus.

Seeing her daughter graduate on May 18 was an emotional moment. “None of this would be possible without you,” Jennifer told her in Spanish that morning. (Watch Espinal and other first-generation graduates give thanks to their families at commencement.)

Making Early Childhood Education Inclusive

Bailey Kaufman, a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of Education and adjunct professor at the school, will be traveling to the Slovak Republic to study early childhood math instruction, as well as the cultural biases in educational materials that can hinder learning.

One aspect of her research is the bias in picture books used to teach math and how that makes them less accessible to children from the country’s Romani minority. Romani children are already marginalized, Kaufman said, noting that only a third of them are enrolled in early childhood programs, compared with the republic’s national average of 72%.

Based at the University of Prešov, she’ll work with European organizations seeking to improve early childhood education and build a comparative analysis. A question she hopes to answer, she said, is “how are other countries approaching mathematics in early childhood and training future teachers, and what can we take from that and bring to U.S. institutions of higher education?”

Studying National Identity in Wales

In addition to the 15 Fulbright scholarships, one student was accepted into a different Fulbright program, the highly competitive U.K. Summer Institute for first- and second-year college students. Mackenzie Saenz De Viteri, a CSTEP Summer Scholar and first-year student at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, will spend three weeks at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

She looks forward to learning directly about Wales’ history and identity, as well as how the country attained independence and structured its government, which may hold lessons for Puerto Rico, said De Viteri, an international studies and anthropology double major from Central Islip, New York.

Her interest is “taking examples from other parts of the world who have similar dilemmas and using that to help solve current issues,” said De Viteri, a first-generation college student who has family in Puerto Rico.

In addition to Kaufman and Espinal, 13 other students and alumni received awards from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program:

Caroline Albacete, FCRH ’21, from Pennsylvania, a member of the Honors Program who earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies, with minors in French and history, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Colombia.

Michael Au-Mullaney, from the Bronx, a doctoral candidate in philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, received a research award for study in Denmark.

Richard (Ricky) DeSantis, from California, a doctoral candidate in philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, received a Fulbright-ifk Junior Fellowship for study in Austria.

Alexandra (Alex) Huey, FCRH ’23, from Florida, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science, with a minor in economics, received a Fulbright-CY Initiative Award to pursue a master’s degree in Paris, France.

Nathan (Nate) Johnson, LAW ’22, who is from New York City and earned a juris doctorate, received a Fulbright/Ulster University Award to pursue an LLM in Northern Ireland.

Kathleen Kye, FCLC ’22, from New Jersey, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish studies, with a minor in psychology, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Argentina. 

Sophia Maier, FCRH ’23, from New York state, who earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies and will receive a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Education this spring, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Spain.

Isaac Mullings, FCRH ’24, from the Bronx, a member of the CSTEP program who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, received a research award for study in Ghana.

Anna Nowalk, FCLC ’23, from Virginia, who earned a bachelor’s degree in theology religious studies with minors in philosophy and peace and justice studies, received a research award for study in El Salvador.

Christian Ramirez, FCRH ’23, who is from Minnesota and earned a bachelor’s degree in English and theology religious studies, with a minor in Spanish, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Colombia.

Margaret (Daisy) Salchli, FCRH ’24, from Chicago, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, international studies, and Chinese studies, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Taiwan.

Emilia Tesoriero, FCRH ’24, from Connecticut, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international political economy with a minor in Spanish, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Spain.

Connie Ticho, LAW ’24, from Pennsylvania, received a research award for study in South Africa.

One alumnus is a Fulbright alternate:

Hanif Amanullah, FCRH ’24, from Texas, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in environmental studies, was named an alternate for a study and research award to Kenya.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version.

The designation comes after 11 Fordham students and alumni were selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2023-2024 school year. Currently serving in destinations that range from Côte D’Ivoire to South Korea, they have joined the ranks of hundreds of Fordham students chosen for the program since it began nearly 80 years ago. 

“Fulbright scholarships change lives, funding international student research opportunities and creating pathways to careers in academia, industry, and government,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham. “Being a top producer of Fulbrights speaks to Fordham’s investment in scholarship and in our students; we are so gratified by their success.”

This is the sixth time Fordham has been recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. students in the past 15 years. The prestigious awards allow students to pursue a variety of international opportunities, including studying, teaching, and conducting research abroad.

Molly Gleason, a 2021 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill, is an English teaching assistant in Indonesia through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. She applied for the Fulbright after a rewarding summer study abroad program in the country two years earlier.

“I was certain I wanted to return to continue the cultural exchange, and what better way to do that than within a classroom? I teach 10th and 11th graders at a vocational high school in Pekanbaru, a city in Sumatra that rarely has foreigners (I am the only one in the whole city!),” she said. “One highlight of my grant has been the development of an ecology club for my students who have never been exposed to the environmental field. Pekanbaru’s natural areas became immersive classrooms, and together we explored and learned about the ecosystem.”

Fordham students apply for awards like the Fulbright through the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, which offers guidance and support throughout the application process.

“We are overjoyed to be recognized as a top producer,” said Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of the fellowships office, adding that the office is eager to “break down the myth that only one type of student can apply for a prestigious award such as a Fulbright.”

“The Fulbright program is an ideal fellowship for any student interested in cultural exchange—and we have many such students at Fordham,” said Ronald. “We work closely with each student as they think through their goals and plans and how a year overseas might benefit them and the community they seek to serve. We can’t wait to work with students again this year, and we encourage all who are curious about this opportunity to come and meet with us.”

Operating since 1946, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program. Fulbright alumni include 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and 62 Nobel Laureates.

A Fulbright scholar works to strengthen democracy

For as long as she can remember, Madalyn Stewart has loved France. From the romance of Paris to the taste of crepes and the melody of the language, the country has lived in her dreams. This year, though, it got real.

The Seattle native recently earned both a Fulbright scholarship and a Phi Kappa Phi fellowship. Now she’s pursuing a master’s degree at Sciences Po in Paris, where she’s studying the Vote Blanc movement, a form of civic participation in which citizens cast a blank vote during elections. What interests her, she says, is the effort it takes to cast a blank ballot. 

“You have to actually bring your own little blank note card, and there can’t be writing on it; otherwise, it won’t be counted,” she says, adding that about 2 million people cast blank votes in the last presidential election.

Office of Prestigious Fellowships Helps Fund a Dream

Stewart, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and French and francophone studies at Fordham College at Lincoln Center in 2022, was admitted to Sciences Po last year, but she had to defer her admission because she didn’t receive enough scholarship support.

She worked with Fordham’s Office of Prestigious Fellowships to apply for the Fulbright and the Phi Kappa Phi awards. “That all just came to fruition this year—it all really fell into place,” she says.

Why France? When her mother was in her 20s, she took a trip there, and Stewart grew up poring over the negatives and photos. Her father ran a creperie for a few years, and little things like that, she says, kept France in the back of her mind. 

When it was time to pick a language in high school, the choice was clear. “And I mean, once I started, I didn’t want to stop,” she says.

At Fordham, she took “classes that weren’t just about French people in France,” but ones that gave her a sense of the politics and their research implications. 

“France is one of the countries that doesn’t keep track of race and ethnicity anymore,” she notes, prompting her to wonder “what that means for racial discrimination in the country, and what that means even for myself for research—when you can’t ask people about their race and ethnicity on a survey.” 

Every Vote Counts—Here and Abroad

At Fordham, Stewart took a course with Professor Christina Greer, Ph.D., called Racial and Ethnic Politics, and it piqued her interest in voting equity and accessibility. For the final project, students were assigned to explore potential avenues for increasing voter accessibility in Georgia.

“My group looked at free public transportation on Election Day, and because Dr. Greer has all kinds of connections, she got a voice memo from Stacey Abrams thanking us for what we did,” Stewart says. “That was one of the first classes I took that talked about voting accessibility [and it] got me excited.”

The summer after her junior year, Stewart interned with Citizens Union, a nonpartisan organization committed to reforming New York’s city and state governments. As a member (and later president) of the University’s Every Vote Counts club, Stewart helped teach civics to high schoolers and did voter registration and mobilization. She also became involved with Let NY Vote, a statewide nonpartisan coalition working to make registering and voting accessible and equitable for every eligible New Yorker.

Those experiences, plus a senior-year internship with the Brennan Center for Justice, prepared her well for the work she’s doing now. And she’s grateful to Fordham for helping to get her to France to pursue on-the-ground, public impact research.

“If I had to summarize where Fordham goes above and beyond, it’s really connecting me to resources and experiences that, going into school, I didn’t really know existed—or at least never imagined that they would be within my reach,” Stewart says.

Read more “20 in Their 20s” profiles.

“Our students are curious and service-oriented, and at Fordham, they think deeply about justice and their place in the world,” said Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of Fordham’s Office of Prestigious Fellowships, adding that Fordham students are awarded Fulbrights every year. “We are excited to see our 10 Fulbright students continue to grow into global leaders through this transformative experience.”

From Long Island to Côte d’Ivoire

Schneider, a senior at Fordham College at Lincoln Center who earned his bachelor’s degrees in international studies and French and Francophone studies last February, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Côte d’Ivoire. Schneider grew up in a predominantly white community on Long Island and said he’s enjoyed getting to know people from different backgrounds at Fordham. In his junior year, he took a Center for Community Engaged Learning course that sparked his interest in French-speaking countries in Africa. 

“Through the Francophone Communities in New York City class, taught by professor Isaie Dougnon who is from Mali and was a Fulbright Scholar, I explored different West African immigrant neighborhoods, including those with people from Côte d’Ivoire. That’s where I learned about and became interested in Francophone Africa,” Schneider said. “After reading books in multiple French classes about Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire, I also learned that it’s a really cool cultural center.” 

Throughout his four years at Fordham, Schneider also worked with children and teenagers at the nearby Lincoln Square Community Center, where he tutored students in English and mathematics through a work-study position with the America Reads and Counts Challenge program. He currently serves as a program director at the center.  

This fall, he will work at a school or neighborhood center in Côte d’Ivoire, where he will teach English for nine months. 

“I’m looking forward to teaching, exploring a different culture, and engaging with a demographic of people who aren’t like me but share common interests,” said Schneider, who plans to eventually attend graduate school and become a U.S. diplomat working with West African nations.

An Ohio Native with Teaching Experience in Kenya and Granada

Thurston, a senior in Fordham College at Rose Hill’s honors program who will be graduating this May with her bachelor’s degree in Spanish language and literature and minors in chemistry and biological sciences, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Spain. 

Thurston was born and raised in Ohio. During high school and college, she taught English to elementary school students in Kenya, immigrants in Granada, and Fordham undergraduates at home. “It’s wonderful to see the progress that I’m able to make with all of my students and to feel like I’m making a difference in their lives,” Thurston said. 

While studying abroad in Granada as a Fordham student, she fell in love with Spain, its language, and the country’s “laid-back and community-oriented culture.” Through Fulbright, she found the perfect opportunity to return. 

During the upcoming school year, she will teach English to elementary school students in the Canary Islands in Spain, where she will also practice her Spanish. After she completes her Fulbright, she plans to attend medical school and pursue a career as a bilingual obstetrician and gynecologist who works in Spanish-speaking communities. 

“It’s one of the more interesting fields of medicine and generally a positive one. It’s also a field where the margins of care between white people and people of color, especially Black and Spanish-speaking patients, is really large, and I want to help to close that gap,” Thurston said. 

In addition to Schneider and Thurston, eight other students and alumni were awarded Fulbrights: 

• Briana Boland, FCLC ’19, who is originally from Colorado and earned her bachelor’s degree in international studies, was awarded the Taiwan National Chengchi University Award in Asia-Pacific Studies. 
• Molly Gleason, FCRH ’21, who is originally from Rhode Island and earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Indonesia. 
• Rachel Irish, FCRH ’22, who is originally from New York and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to South Korea.
• Megan Johnson, FCLC ’20, GSE ’21, who is originally from California and earned her bachelor’s degrees in humanitarian studies and Spanish studies and her master’s degree in bilingual childhood education, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Ecuador. 
• Anastasia McGrath, FCRH ’21, who is originally from New York and earned her bachelor’s degrees in international political economy and Chinese studies, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Taiwan. 
• Grace Powers, FCRH ’23, who is originally from Kentucky and will be graduating with degrees in sociology and history, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Estonia. 
• Madalyn Stewart, FCLC ’22, who is originally from Oregon and earned her bachelor’s degrees in political science and French and Francophone studies, was awarded a study/research award to France. 
• Miguel Sutedjo, FCRH ’23, who is originally from New Jersey and will graduate with his bachelor’s degrees in international political economy and music, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Taiwan. 

 

Four students and alumni were also named Fulbright alternates:

• Dené Chung, FCLC ’21, who is originally from New Jersey and earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, was named an alternate for an English teaching assistantship to South Korea. (*Chung was selected for a Fulbright scholarship and is currently teaching English in South Korea.)
• Jillian Elba, FCRH ’23, who is originally from Massachusetts and will be graduating with her bachelor’s degrees in sociology and English, was named an alternate for an English teaching assistantship to Thailand. 
• Emma Jane Konkoly, FCLC ’23, who is originally from Massachusetts and will be graduating with her bachelor’s degree in international studies, was named an alternate for an English teaching assistantship to Estonia. 
• Alyssa Peralta, FCLC ’23, who is originally from Illinois and will be graduating with her bachelor’s degree in economics, was named an alternate for an English teaching assistantship to Mexico.

 

Composing a New Musical

Sutedjo has applied this combo approach to his research and musical works, including composing the book, music, and lyrics, for Fly Me Away, an original musical featuring a teenage jazz pianist named Frank and his father who move from Shanghai to New York City.

“He does in a single day, more than most people do in a month,” said Eric Bianchi, an associate professor of music and one of Sutedjo’s mentors.

The idea to write a musical came to Sutedjo in high school, when he realized “that there just wasn’t a lot of Asian representation in the musical theater canon.”

He began working on it in his free time, until he developed it as his honors thesis. His work intensified junior year, when Sutedjo participated in Fordham’s partnership with Juilliard. Jake Landau, one of his instructors there, told Sutedjo that he would be a perfect fit for a program he was leading that summer.

“I was able to secure funding from the Fordham undergraduate research grant, which allowed me to participate in this two-week intensive in Italy—the New Voice Composers Studio at the Narni International Vocal Arts Festival—which was really cool,” Sutedjo said. “I was able to workshop and premiere two new pieces of mine at this international music and arts festival.”

Uplifting Voices

At the center of Sutedjo’s work is a desire to share and uplift the stories of Asian Americans, particularly after witnessing and experiencing marginalization, and microaggressions against the community.

“I’ve been able to find my voice and realize this is something that not only can I do, but it’s needed—if I was feeling that way when I was 14, I’m sure there’s a lot of other young Asian kids who also feel that way,” said Sutedjo, who is Indonesian American of Chinese descent.

Sutedjo said this work is particularly important now as many Asian Americans have experienced discrimination over the past few years.

“In order to combat these stereotypes, you need to tell a much wider array of stories that portray Asians not as a monolith, not as a stereotype, but really as a diverse array of people with individual stories,” he said.

The Power of Connections

Sutedjo knows how impactful representation can be. When he was an actor (and later assistant music director) with Fordham’s theater club Mimes and Mummers, the group brought in Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li, a director of Taiwanese descent and the director of performance, storytelling, and community at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in Lower Manhattan.

“He was the first Asian director that I’ve ever worked with and that was a very cool experience for me to see someone that looks like me in that position of theater leadership,” he said.

Sutedjo participated in a couple of projects helmed by Li, and eventually their connection led to Fly Me Away’s debut at MOCA, with support from Fordham’s undergraduate research community and honors program.

A Debut Reading at the Museum of Chinese in America

“We were able to bring on an all-Asian cast and creative team alongside two Fordham musicians,” Sutedjo said. “We had a full stage reading, and roughly 90 people came to each show, which was a great reception.”

Sutedjo said that he plans to use the feedback to revise the production before its next iteration.

“Most musical projects don’t go that far,” said Bianchi, who is also a musician. “To watch somebody who’s 21 do that, it’s astounding by any count.”

Fly Me Away was also recognized at Fordham, as he received the Fordham College Alumni Association Research Symposium Award for the production.

Advancing the Music Department

Another mentor, music professor Nathan Lincoln-Decusatis, said Sutedjo’s unique talents and skill sets have not only benefited him, but they’ve also helped the music department explore new areas, such as “music as research.”

“Research can be in the performing arts, and Miguel opened the door for the future at Fordham, because he was the first one to really think of harnessing the resources of the research community,” he said. “And now that’s a precedent. Miguel was the trailblazer for that.”

Global Perspective

Sutedjo said that he hopes to use this Fulbright to immerse himself in teaching and his own heritage, and use those experiences in the future.

“Being able to live abroad in Taiwan for a year, absorbing the language, I think will not only help me connect with my heritage, but also it allows me to tell a greater range of stories through having that lived experience,” he said.

For Priya Ravindran, who met her Ukrainian husband at Fordham and later adopted his country as her own, reporting on the war and sharing her young family’s story is an act of resistance.

When Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, Priya Ravindran was living in Kyiv with her Ukrainian husband and their 2-year-old son, Neil. The couple met in 2010 as graduate students at Fordham and were married in Kyiv four years later.

“We led fairly normal lives. We worked, traveled within Ukraine and internationally, went out on the weekends, went out to eat, met with friends,” said Ravindran, who was an editor at the Ukrainian state-run news station UATV English before going on maternity leave in 2019. “It wasn’t until February 24 that our lives changed forever.”

Two days later, amid reports of military and civilian casualties near Kyiv, they fled, joining more than 12 million people who would leave their homes following the Russian invasion.

‘Trying to Play My Part’

As they drove away, “Alex asked me in the car, ‘Do you realize you are now officially a mother fleeing war with an almost-3-year-old?’” Ravindran wrote on February 26.

“We always knew this was a possibility. Even before I got pregnant, I asked Alex many times, ‘What if we have a child and full-out war breaks out?’ … Like with everything in life, you try to put those thoughts at the back of your mind, but here we are.”

They headed west with a friend and his mom, driving through numerous Ukrainian military checkpoints. “We are surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, vast snow-covered fields, and heaps and heaps of trees with just the perfect amount of snow,” she wrote. “Seeing the pristine beauty of nature, I almost think to myself, ‘This is all a dream, right? It has to be.’ But no, this isn’t a dream. … Ukraine is still fighting for its existence.”

On February 28, they arrived at their destination: a friend’s home in Ivano-Frankivsk.

“I have a lot of guilt that I’m not doing enough, not helping enough,” Ravindran wrote that day. “But I’m trying to play my part in letting people know what’s happening, as best as I can, in the best way I know how: through my love of writing.”

Since late February, Ravindran has been posting daily accounts of the war. In each post on her public Facebook page, she typically mixes news and analysis with a firsthand account by another writer as well as personal stories of her family’s experiences and emotions. (To protect her husband’s identity, she uses the pseudonym Alex to refer to him.)

Her posts have reached a broad audience. On March 3, one day before Neil’s third birthday, she was interviewed by Indian TV journalist Barkha Dutt, “whose reporting in the 1990s on the India-Pakistan war convinced me as a 12-year-old to be a journalist,” Ravindran wrote.

From Mumbai to Kyiv via Rose Hill

Born in Mumbai, Ravindran was 17 years old when she moved from India to the U.S. to attend college. After earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations at the State University of New York at Oswego, she enrolled at Fordham to pursue a master’s degree in political science.

The day before her classes started in fall 2010, she left her walk-up apartment on Arthur Avenue to buy groceries. “When I returned, I was holding the door to the building open with one leg while pushing all my bags in,” she said. “At the same time, Alex exited his apartment on the first floor, stopped, and asked me if I needed help. I told him I could manage, but he insisted, so he carried all my bags upstairs and started to run away. I screamed ‘Priya!’ after him, and he said, ‘Alex!’”

Alex had arrived at Fordham on a Fulbright Fellowship, and he was enrolled in Fordham’s International Political Economy and Development program. The two saw each other in class the next day, Ravindran said, but it wasn’t until the end of the semester that she learned that they share a love of trance music. “I invited him and his roommates to a concert by a famous German duo,” she said. “He asked me out the next day, and the rest is history, as they say.” They were married in Kyiv on June 26, 2014.

A Rousing Song for the Motherland

In her daily posts on Facebook, Ravindran has covered numerous aspects of the war. In early July, she published transcripts of phone conversations intercepted by the Ukrainian Security Service in which Russian soldiers discuss the killing of civilians. In mid-May, she shared the results of a Kyiv School of Economics study indicating that, as of May 10, the war had caused an estimated $600 billion in economic losses in the country. And in June, she covered a nightly address by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he said that at least 828 children had been affected by the war—446 injured, 243 killed, and 139 missing.

“We talk about war and its impact in numbers, and as jarring as they may be,” Ravindran wrote, “they don’t always convey the full story. … They don’t tell us about the trauma parents and their children are dealing with. We remember so many wars in numbers, but we forget about the stories.”

Amid the fear and anxiety of the war, and the near-constant threat of air raids, she has found moments to celebrate: the “happiness on Neil’s face” when he gets a couple of “siren-free” hours to play in a local park, for example, and the “immense joy” of seeing the Ukrainian rap and folk band Kalush Orchestra win the annual Eurovision Song Contest in mid-May.

“It doesn’t mean anything for the war,” she wrote at the time, “but it was a small relief for the psyche.” She noted that the band’s lead singer, Oleh Psiuk, wrote the winning song, “Stefania,” as an ode to his own mother. But since the Russian invasion, the song has taken on new meaning.

“People have been using the song to symbolize Ukraine—the yearning of children who have been separated from their mothers because they are serving in the military; the emotions of sons who are missing their mothers who crossed the border to bring their other siblings to safety; the pain of children who have lost their mothers to the war,” Ravindran wrote.

And with lyrics like, “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed,” she added: “Some are reminded of the motherland itself.”

Read Priya Ravindran’s Ukraine war journal on Facebook at @pravindran1.

“We are always so proud of our applicants. As they will tell you, the process of applying for awards requires a great deal of introspection and also the ability to share their visions with others. And while we recognize and applaud their success, great discoveries are made through the process,” said Marisa Iglesias, Ph.D., interim director of the Office of Prestigious Fellowships. “I am so impressed by the Fordham students and alumni who worked with the Campion Institute to achieve their goals. It’s a joy to celebrate them at this time of the year.” 

As of May 20, Fordham undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni have received 52 prestigious awards this year, including seven Fulbrights, one Critical Language Scholarship, and three National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. In addition to the winners, 13 scholars were named as finalists, semi-finalists, and alternates for prestigious awards, including one Marshall Scholarship finalist. Additional awards will be announced this summer. 

Giselle Schmitz, a Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow who earned her master’s degree in international political economy and development last February, won the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. In a year-long fellowship at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Science and Technology, Schmitz is supporting sustainable fisheries management and learning how policy interventions can be most effective in the marine sciences.

“Fisheries are important for a myriad of reasons. They support nutrition security worldwide as an important source of protein and they’re vital for a healthy ecosystem,” said Schmitz, a California native who started the fellowship in Maryland last February. 

Schmitz said she plans on using her Fordham education—and her law degree from the University of Oregon, where she learned about policymaking in relation to marine resources—to help protect the environment. 

“Fordham was a timely and wonderful experience for me. I had the opportunity to apply to their Coverdell Fellowship as a returning Peace Corps volunteer. Through the Coverdell Fellowship and the IPED program, I was able to dig deeper into quantitative methods and studies and examine the economic side of my legal research,” Schmitz said. “In the future, I hope to work in conservation criminology and study sustainable fisheries and marine protected areas.” 

Jason Ray, a doctoral student in English, won a Fulbright Research Award to the United Kingdom. Starting in September, he will study how medieval texts illuminate early Welsh people on their own terms, instead of as the subjects of English and Norman elites. “Wales is often considered to be England’s first colony. Since the Saxons invaded, the Welsh have been subject to xenophobia, displacement, subjugation, and exploitation,” Ray said. “I want to contribute to the critical conversations about identity, race, and colonization in this period and place.” 

Ray, a Georgia native, has a bachelor’s degree in theater studies from Yale University and a master’s degree in medieval and renaissance studies from Columbia University. When he realized that what he really loved about theater was not so much performing, but dissecting Shakespeare’s English, he returned to school with a renewed interest in the history of the English language. 

“That set me on this trajectory of going backwards in time until I reached Old English. And I couldn’t help but also think about the story behind its development, which is where literature and history come in. I went down a rabbit hole, and I haven’t come up yet. I feel a little bit like Alice in Wonderland,” he said, laughing. 

Ray said that someday, he wants to conduct research and teach as a professor. “Pedagogy is a huge part of our training at Fordham. At the same time, the school insists on rigorous research,” he said. “Fordham is really preparing me for a career in academia.”

As of May 20, prestigious awards received this year include: 

• In addition to Jason Ray, six Fulbright awards: Evan Allen, FCRH ’21, to Kazakhstan; Megan Brady, FCRH ’13, to Bosnia; Tauland Kaca, FCLC ’21, to Germany; Kristina Lazdauskas, FCRH ’21, to Lithuania; Christopher Myers, GSAS ’18 and current doctoral candidate, to Germany; and Tammen Nicholson, GSAS ’20, to Lesotho
• Critical Language Scholarship: Dominique Valentine, FCRH ’22
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships: William Beatrez, FCRH ’19; Kathryn Belcher, FCRH ’21; and Morgan McGrath, FCRH ’22
• U.S. Presidential Management Fellowships: Hannah Babiss, GSS ’21; Ellie Bauer, GSAS ’22; Adam Brasher, GSAS ’22; Jessica Dunston, GSS ’22; Dhan Gurung, GSAS ’21; Jacob Olson, GSAS ’21; Kevin Strohm, GSAS ’22; and Courtney Vice, LAW ’22
• International Atomic Energy Agency Internship: Victor Sapkota, GSAS ’21
• American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology Scholarship: Okeoma Nwakanma, GSAS ’22
• St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Awards: Giselle Schmitz, GSAS ’22, and David Woodside, GSAS ’23

As of May 18, Fordham undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni have received 62 prestigious awards this year, including three Fulbrights, a Critical Language Scholarship, 10 Excellence in Broadcasting awards, three Gates Millennium Scholarships, a Ford predoctoral fellowship, a Marshall award winner, three National Science Foundation fellowships, a Soros fellowship winner, a prestigious DAAD Long-Term Research Grant, and an internship in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition to the winners, two scholars were named as finalists for prestigious awards, including a Coro fellowship finalist, and 21 were named as semi-finalists.

“Despite the many challenges that the global pandemic presented, the Campion Institute saw a record number of applicants who persevered through a rigorous application process and learned a lot about themselves, their values, and the contribution they hope to make to the world,” said Anna Beskin, Ph.D., interim director of the Office of Prestigious Fellowships. “We couldn’t be prouder of all of our applicants!”

Alejandra Garcia, FCLC ’21, who majored in visual arts and English, won a U.S. Fulbright Student Arts Program award to France. Garcia, who grew up in San Diego, near the U.S. border with Mexico, said a lot of her painting and drawing has focused on migration and immigration, something she hopes to explore more in France.

“I’m pretty interested in the different or similar attitudes towards migration—I’m from a border city—and I think I have a very particular view of my own experiences with xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments and things of that sort. And I am very curious to learn about how that is handled in France and in Europe,” she said. “I really want to work with immigrant communities there rather than just learn about it from an outsider perspective. I want to be integrated and hear from those actual voices.”

Garcia said she’ll be working on her immigration studies with the Paris College of Art, and, hopefully, the National Museum of History of Immigration. She’ll also be working with the Paris College of Art on their “Drawing is Free” program, which invites the public in to use their resources and create art.

“That was something that I was really attracted to, because something that I really believe in is expanding artistic accessibility to other people,” she said.

Garcia said her goal is to pursue U.S. artist-in-residence opportunities after her Fulbright and pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in a few years.

Matias Ayala, PCS ’21, won a U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs IT Fellowship. Ayala, who came to Fordham after serving in the Marine Corps, said his time in the military made him interested in cybersecurity and information technology.

“I started hearing a lot about cybersecurity, mainly in our deployment briefings. We heard a lot about how to remain secure and make sure that we’re not exposing ourselves from a cyber standpoint,” said Ayala, who is graduating with his bachelor’s degree in information technology and systems.

Ayala said that Fordham’s program is a good fit for veterans.

“They’ve been targeting veterans because of our experience—we have a certain mindset that’s very good within cybersecurity, being able to analyze it and act on intelligence,” he said, adding that Fordham’s location was also ideal for him. “I have family here in New York City, so I figured that was a good transition—I could move in with family while I got my feet back under me.”

The fellowship, which Ayala will complete while pursuing a master’s in information technology at Fordham, will expose him to different areas of the State Department and allow him to gain experience through two summer internships. After the fellowship ends, Ayala said he would be offered a five-year contract to continue working at the State Department.

Ayala credits Fordham’s Veterans Center and his internship with the University’s Information Security Office for helping him earn this fellowship.

“Fordham gives us the tools to make sure that our veterans that are transitioning from the military to the civilian sector are able to get a good job and be successful,” he said.

When Alison Rini, FCRH ’21, was in high school, she participated in a two-month high school exchange program in Spain, staying with a family about 30 minutes outside of Madrid. That experience made her fall in love with Spain, so when she was applying for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, she applied for one there. Her bid was successful, and the English and Italian Studies major said she’s excited for the opportunity to teach students about American culture and immerse herself in the Spanish capital’s “Global Classrooms” program.

“In Madrid, there is the Global Classrooms program, which is essentially Model United Nations. I do Model U.N. at Fordham, I did it in high school. And so I was really excited about the possibility of teaching Model U.N. to a ninth-grade class,” she said, adding that she would help them compete with other students and get the chance to travel to New York.

Rini, who served as a researcher in Fordham’s Bronx African-American History Project, Bronx Italian-American History Initiative, and Bronx COVID-19 Oral History Project, said that she’s going to use this opportunity to explore teaching as a career and reconnect with her classmates from her high school exchange program. A former intern in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rini is also considering a career in the federal government.

Seana Epley, GSAS ’21, won the Critical Language Scholarship in back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021 to study and learn Swahili, initially in Tanzania, but now virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Epley, who is getting her master’s in humanitarian studies after earning an undergraduate degree in disaster response and emergency management from the University of North Texas, said she always had a desire to work on the African continent, which is what inspired her to pursue Swahili.

The program will run virtually over the summer for eight weeks and Epley said she plans to try to immerse herself in the language as much as possible to help her apply to nonprofits who are working on disaster response in the region.

“I felt like I could be of more use if I had a language that was applicable,” she said.

Epley said that while the phrase “build back better” has become cliche, she does want to do work that helps communities be stronger after a disaster.

“If you’re going into a community that’s been impacted by a disaster, you don’t want to build to the exact same standards, … because that’s just asking for more damage next time,” she said. “The ultimate goal of most humanitarians is to not be needed someday…I’d like to work with an organization that supplements those [community]specific skills and doesn’t just come in and take over.”

As of May 18, prestigious awards received this year include:

• Gates Millennium Scholars: Adiza Awwal, GSAS ’25; Mary Bookman, FCLC ’24; Arely Garcia, GSE ’25
• Marshall Award: Kayla Matteucci, FCLC ’18
• Ford Predoctoral Fellowship: Obianujunwa Anakwenze, GSAS ’24
• Soros Fellowship: Nikolas Oktaba, FCLC ’15
• Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship from the Hudson River Foundation: Royall McMahon Ward, FCLC ’22
• DAAD Long-Term Research Grant: Kathryn Bresee, GSAS ’23
• Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting: Anthony Alaimo, FCRH ’23, and Rebecca Gutierrez, FCRH ’22, in the Professional Category for Outstanding Podcast; Emmanuel Berbari, FCRH ’21, for Outstanding Podcast; Dominic Capone, FCRH ’20 and Devin Clementi, GABELLI ’20, in the College Radio Division for Outstanding Sports Coverage; Carmen Collins, GSAS ’20, Nicholas DeLuca, FCRH ’22, in the College Radio Division for Outstanding Podcast; Evan Jaenichen, FCRH ’20, in College TV Division for Outstanding Series or Documentary; Charles Maisano, FCRH ’20, in the College Radio Division for Outstanding Sports Coverage; Eliot Schiaparelli, FCRH ’21, in College Radio Division for Outstanding Newscast
• Alliance for Women in Media Foundation 2021 Gracie Award: Carmen Collins, GSAS ’20, Nora Thomas, FCRH ’21
• New York Press Club Award: Brianna Leverty, FCRH ’20
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program: Daniel Alonso, GSAS ’30, April Rich, FCRH ’19; Micah Savin, GSAS ’28
• United States Department of Treasury Summer 2021 Internship in Washington D.C.: John Brower, GSAS ’25
• Civil Rights Fellow at the National Education Association: Laura Petty, LAW ’21
• Public Service Fellow to the U.S, Mission to the United Nations: Adam Brasher, GSAS ’25
• Panda Cares Scholars: Baghdad Numi, FCRH ’23; Annie Qiu, GABELLI ’24

As of May 11, Fordham students and alumni have received 105 prestigious awards this year, including eight Fulbright Scholarships, one Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, one Goldwater Scholarship, one Boren Fellowship, one Coro Fellowship, and two Department of Defense Cybersecurity Scholarships. In addition to the winners, 41 scholars were named as finalists for prestigious awards, including two finalists for the Truman Scholarship.

(Updated August 24)

Every year, students apply for these competitive awards with the help of Fordham’s St. Edmund Campion Institute for the Advancement of Intellectual Excellence and Office of Prestigious Fellowships. These experiences often shape students’ career paths and strengthen their international perspective. This year, many programs have temporarily postponed participation due to COVID-19; others have developed remote options.

“I feel tremendous pride in the achievements of our students who, with the assistance of the Campion staff and the generosity of the Fordham faculty, have brought great honor to the University during a most difficult and trying period,” said John Ryle Kezel, Ph.D., director of the Campion Institute.

Joshua Somrah, FCLC ’20, an international studies and political science double major and an anthropology and theology double minor, won a Fulbright English teaching assistantship to India. He’ll begin the nine-month program in June 2021—a year later than originally planned, due to the pandemic.

“I wanted to go there because of my family heritage. My dad is Guyanese, and my mom is Trinidadian, but our ancestors are from India. Because of colonization, my ancestors were brought from India to the Caribbean to work as indentured servants, but Indian culture is still a big part of our family today,” said Somrah, who now lives in Long Island with his family. This will be his first trip to India. “I wanted to go to the place where it all started.” 

Someday, Somrah hopes to become a U.S. diplomat for the United Nations or a similar organization. He will begin a master’s program in government and politics at St. John’s University next month, starting with remote classes and hopefully transitioning to in-person classes in the fall.

In the meantime, Somrah is still excited about his 2021 trip to India. He said he loves watching Bollywood movies and has been teaching himself Hindi by watching videos and Googling unfamiliar words. He has traveled to Brazil and Cuba through Fordham’s Global Outreach trips, but he’s ready to experience a new, yet familiar culture. 

The last time his family lived on the subcontinent was nearly two centuries ago, he said. 

“I want to learn from the people there, just as much as I’ll be teaching them,” Somrah said.  

Natalie Migliore, FCRH ’20, a journalism major with a minor in communication and culture, won three awards from the New York State Broadcasters Association for her work with WFUV this year. She is also a finalist for four awards: three from the New York State Associated Press and one from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

Her collaborative project “Bronx Connections: When Gun Violence Becomes Personal,” produced by WFUV in partnership with The Norwood News and BronxNet Television, won for outstanding public affairs program or series in two categories from the New York State Broadcasters Association. The five-part series explores how gun violence has impacted the Bronx community. 

Last fall, Migliore interviewed Bronx residents whose lives were changed by gun violence.  

“I talked to one person who was on the other end of a gun, who pulled the trigger. I spoke to one person whose brother actually died from gun violence in his neighborhood … And I talked to another woman who actually became an activist after her 4-year-old grandson got shot in the elbow and survived,” said Migliore. “What I learned from this series is when something impacts your life, and you’re that passionate about it, you can change the community, and you can change the way people think about it.” 

Migliore said she caught the “news bug” when she joined WFUV in her first semester at Fordham. She steadily moved through the ranks, from reporter to news anchor to newsroom student manager. What she loves most about journalism is connecting with people, she said—especially when communities trust her to tell their stories. 

Like many graduating seniors, Migliore is now searching for a job. She says it’s been difficult in the midst of the pandemic, thanks to the hiring freezes at many news organizations across the country. But she’s reporting for WFUV until the end of the semester and writing stories on how COVID-19 is affecting local businesses, health care workers, and college students like herself. And no matter where her career takes her, she wants to continue being a reporter. 

“That’s what all the stories I’ve covered have given me the privilege of seeing,” said Migliore. “I can see through people’s eyes. And I love that.” 

Aamnah Khan, FCLC ’20, a humanitarian studies major and peace and justice studies minor, won a Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs. Starting this October, she will participate in projects across multiple sectors in public affairs in New York City. The nine-month fellowship will culminate in a final independent project. 

“I’m excited to get an overview of what our city’s programming looks like and the politics behind it,” said Khan, a Pakistani-American Muslim from Kensington, Brooklyn. “As we continue to move on to the next phase of this pandemic, [I’m sure we’ll see] the effects it’ll have on our city, including the upcoming local 2021 elections.” 

Khan hopes to become a human rights lawyer for a non-profit organization. She said she especially wants to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and intergenerational trauma. 

What fuels her desire to help other people is her family’s own experience with racial discrimination. In the aftermath of 9/11, her father was targeted for his cultural attire. Her extended family has experienced racism, too. 

“During the 2016 presidential elections, my family—my extended family in Ohio—were victims of hate incidents. They [experienced]vandalism. They had an attempted shooting at their mosque,” Khan said. “Because of that, I vowed to never stop fighting for their rights, to stand in solidarity with the rest of the world, and to question when humanity is no longer being preserved.” 

As of May 11, prestigious awards received this year include: 

• With Joshua Somrah, eight Fulbright awards: Mobeen Ahmed, FCLC ’20, to Indonesia; Jonathan Alegria, FCLC ’20, to Israel; Stephen DeFerrari, FCLC ’22, to Tajikistan; Valerie Márquez Edwards, FCRH ’17, to Mexico; Sally Mo, FCLC ’20, to China; Amanda Racine, GSAS ’24, to France; Thomas Zuber, GSAS ’15, to Senegal and Burkina Faso
• Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship: Gregory Ferraro, GSAS ’20, to Cote d’Ivoire
• Goldwater Scholarship: Morgan McGrath, FCRH ’22
• Boren National Security Fellowship: Megan Madeo, GSAS ’21
• Two U.S. Department of State Overseas Summer Internships: Megan Farr, FCRH ’22, to the U.S. Embassy in the Hague, and Ben Guo, GABELLI ’21, to the U.S. Embassy in London
• DAAD RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) in Germany: Alessandra Marino, FCRH ’21
• NYC Urban Fellows Award: Mahbuba Hossain, FCLC ’20
• Critical Language Scholarship: Wilson Cooper, FCLC ’23, Seana Epley, GSAS ’24, Lea Phillips: GSAS ’24
• Technology and Public Purpose Fellowship: Devin Gladden, FCRH ’09
• Patrick Mayrisch, GABELLI ’20 and Peter Jennings, FCRH ’20, received the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Scholarship program (DoD CySP). Upon graduation from the Fordham MS in Cybersecurity program they will go to work for a DoD agency.

Additional awards are still being announced. 

In her first few weeks there, she said she found an apartment and settled into a “gritty” neighborhood not far from the university, where concerts and festivals are frequent. Her favorite local food is burek, flaky pastry sheets filled with spinach, cheese, and/or meat, and her favorite local drink is rakia, a Balkan moonshine that’s akin to a strong fruit-flavored brandy. But above all, she said, she likes the people. She was there during college and has wanted to return ever since.

“It’s been good to see some friends after meeting them here four years ago,” she said. “Being able to get settled helps me feel more like a local and since I’ll be here nine months I should be able to understand the nuances a bit better.”

The Journey Before the Journey

Winsett said that being awarded the Fulbright began with an email about an info session sent out by the Office of Prestigious Fellowships in 2018.

“It seemed like a great opportunity,” she said. “I don’t think at the time I realized it would take over a year to finish the application.”

She credited, Anna Beskin, Ph.D., international fellowship coordinator, with guiding her through the arduous process. She said that Beskin gave her nearly “100 comments per draft” on her essays, and there were at least a dozen drafts of two separate essays.

“Anna is a major reason I was even awarded the grant,” said Winsett.

Winsett had studied journalism abroad in Kosovo when she went to Miami University in Ohio in 2015.  She noted that it’s one of the world’s newest nations. With more than half its population under 25, she made lots of friends her own age. The majority of the ethnic Albanian nation did not become unified until it broke from Serbia in 2008, in the wake of the Yugoslavian civil war, though Serbians refuse to recognize its independent status.

On that trip, Winsett worked with a nonprofit that helped other nonprofits interface with the government. Back in Ohio, she advocated for sexual abuse survivors at a rape crisis center in a rural county. She would respond directly to hospital calls, help victims get rape kits, give testimonies, and talk to the police. Together these two experiences led her toward the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) at Fordham. At GSS she was on the leadership and administration track, which combined the micro and macro practices, which dovetailed well with her experience.

Bringing an American Brand of Awareness

In addition to her classroom duties, Winsett will also need to fulfill a community engagement requirement.

So far, she’s reached out to three organizations that work with sexual abuse survivors and plans to meet with a social worker to discuss how she can navigate the volunteer culture there. But coming from the fast pace of New York City, where people answer emails within the hour, to an area where response time is a bit slower has proved to be her first real cultural adjustment.

“I’ve been really trying to manage my own expectations for the replies and meetings,” she said. “European time can be a bit more fluid.”

While she waits to connect the dots, she said she’s enjoying teaching her students at the university and helping them fill out applications for American colleges. She said she often gets together with four other Fulbright grantees for dinner to compare notes.

She noted that Kosovo is only now starting to recognize wartime sexual violence that occurred more than 20 years ago, when Yugoslav and Serbian forces systematically used rape as a wartime method to terrorize ethnic Albanians.

But even in times of peace, she said, rape and sexual violence are still rampant all over the world.

“I think you can say that there’s an epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses in the U.S. right now, so I think it’s still highly prevalent everywhere,” she said.

“No matter where it’s happening, I think it is still underreported, so we’re hearing all these different cases of men, women, transgender people—trans people of color are highly vulnerable,” she said. “Everyone is affected and we act as though it’s only men perpetrating violence against women, but really, it’s across the board.”

Winsett said that while there are many issues to address, her main goal is to strike a friendly tone about a nation that she has grown increasingly fond of.

“I want to dive deeper and actually visit more of the cities within Kosovo,” she said. “Kosovo’s interesting in that they’re so pro-U.S., that they might even be more pro-U.S. than some American citizens.”

She said that people still remember NATO’s role in stopping the bombings of the region by Serbia.

“Streets are named after Clinton and Tony Blair,” she said. “I’m excited to be in that region because I think it’s not a typical tourist destination, and I’m also excited to visit Bosnia.”

She said that beyond volunteer work she hopes to create awareness about sexual violence in a variety of platforms.

“I think that since the population is so young, they’re social media savvy so they’re already familiar with #MeToo,” she said. “I think this sort of work takes education and awareness, so that’s another way to approach the issue.”

But ultimately, she said, she’s looking forward to learning.

“It’s about admitting that you don’t know everything, that you’re going to make some mistakes,” she said, “and you need to be open to having these conversations.”

As of May 9, Fordham students have received 81 prestigious awards this year, including seven Fulbright awards, one Coro fellowship, and one Udall scholarship.

Wesley Wilson, PCS ’19, received a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, home to one of the most prestigious public administration programs in the country. But life wasn’t always so smooth for Wilson. At age 16, he became an orphan. On top of that, he had a high school G.P.A. of 1.6. Then his mother’s longtime friend stepped in.

“‘Your mother always believed that you would be the first one in the family to graduate from college,’” Wilson said, recalling her words to him. “At that point, it just kind of … set something in motion.”

He earned his high school diploma, served as a U.S. Army military police officer in South Korea and at the United States Military Academy at West Point for five years, and graduated with honors from American Military University. In 2017, he began studying organizational leadership at Fordham. In his two years at the University, he has served as president of the Fordham Veterans Association, rallied support for student veterans as a High Ground Veterans Advocacy fellow, and secured a national finalist position for the Student Veteran of the Year award.

When Wilson completes his M.P.A. at Syracuse, he plans on returning to his native South Carolina, where he hopes to someday serve as a senior official in the state government.

Sabrina Jen, FCLC ’19, is a new media and digital design major who won the Humanity in Action Fellowship. The selective one-year program trains students to develop projects that address social justice issues in their own communities. Jen will train in Poland for a month starting this June. When she returns to New York, she plans to use her new skills to create a museum exhibit that will showcase her Fordham senior capstone project.

“My capstone project was about addressing the perception of Chinese food among American people in the United States,” Jen explained. “People look down on it and treat it as cheap junk food. My parents are from Taiwan, and I’m ethnically Chinese, so growing up, my idea of Chinese food was a lot different from that.”

But her project wasn’t just about food. It was a vehicle to talk about the complexities of Chinese-American experiences and the Chinese diaspora across the world, she said.

“My ultimate goal is for New York City public schools to be able to teach more about Chinese-American immigration and history,” said Jen, who will pursue a master’s degree in ethics and society at Fordham this fall while working on her fellowship.

Rosalyn Kutsch, FCRH ’19, won a Fulbright fellowship to teach English and Model United Nations to high school students in Madrid for almost a year.

Kutsch is a double major in international political economy and Latin American and Latino studies and a Spanish minor. As an executive board member in Fordham’s Model U.N. club, she helped the University host its first high school Model U.N. conference at the Lincoln Center campus. Last summer, she interned with the State Department. And two years ago, she earned a Fordham undergraduate research grant that took her to Guatemala, where she investigated the interaction between indigenous artisans and different social enterprises.

“I’ve become more attracted to this idea of sustainable development: the ability to increase economic opportunity and equality in countries through interesting and innovative solutions,” said Kutsch, who plans to become a consultant or researcher in the field.

As of May 9, other prestigious awards won this year include:

• In addition to Rosalyn Kutsch, six Fulbright awards: Matthew Cappetta, FCRH ’19, to Nepal; Kevin Curran, FCRH ’15, to the Czech Republic; Kayla Matteucci, FCLC ’18, to the United Kingdom; Kevin Morales, FCLC ’17, to Russia; Jane Winsett, GSS ’19, to Kosovo; and Shelda Zajmi, FCRH ’19, to Germany
• Two U.S. Department of State Overseas Summer Internships: Hannah Fort, GSAS ’20, to the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia, and Natasia Harrison, GSAS ’20, to the U.S. Embassy in the People’s Republic of China
• Two Critical Language Scholarships: Briana Boland, FCLC ’19, and Stephen DeFerrari, FCLC ’20
• One Udall Scholarship: Colleen Cochran, FCRH ’21
• One Coro Fellowship: Anya Patterson, FCRH ’19
• One National Science Foundation Fellowship: Micah Savin, first-year doctoral student at GSAS

Additional awards are still being announced.