Connie Ticho (LAW ’24) and Nate Johnson (LAW ’22) earned the Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship, a supplementary award for Fulbright U.S. Student Program awardees studying nonviolent movements around the world. 

In addition to the benefits of the standard Fulbright fellowship, they’ll receive additional opportunities, including a lecture series, leadership training, and professional development opportunities. Fordham is one of only three universities nationwide to produce more than one Fulbright-John Lewis fellow.

Protecting Human Rights in South Africa

Ticho, who uses they/them pronouns, is headed to South Africa, where they’ll be researching Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), a legal framework that shows promise for protecting mining communities against human rights violations. 

“FPIC demands that communities have agency over how their land is developed,” said Ticho. “A lot of mining communities are very poor and there are also a lot of health issues, because of poor mine closure and regulations. So I’m looking at how this principle could be codified within the legal system there.”

They will be working in collaboration with the University of Pretoria Center for Human Rights, as well as a South African NGO called Lawyers for Human Rights. Ticho’s first priority is supporting local advocates, who’ve faced violence and death threats. 

“I feel privileged … to go do this research and to create a tool to leave behind with activists, so they can focus on their advocacy,” they said. 

Envisioning Justice Beyond Incarceration 

Johnson recently started his Fulbright fellowship in Belfast, where he’s pursuing a Master of Laws in Human Rights Law and Transitional Justice at Ulster University. He’s studying non-carceral solutions to human rights violations, specifically those that arose during the decades-long period of violence in Northern Ireland called “The Troubles.” 

A former tenants rights attorney, Johnson is interested in exploring how helping people meet basic needs could mitigate violence. He plans to study how emphasizing positive rights—like access to housing—could be a way of responding to harmful situations before they occur, rather than reacting punitively after the fact.

He credits his mentor, Fordham Law professor Chi Adanna Mgbako, with supporting his success. “I cannot thank her enough for all the help she’s given me in figuring out what I’m doing, whether it’s personal or professional,” he said.

Big Shoes to Fill

The Fulbright-John Lewis Fellowship honors the legacy of John Lewis, a politician and civil rights activist who led the first Selma-to-Montgomery march and helped to organize the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. A member of the Democratic Party, Lewis served in the House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020. 

For Johnson, earning a fellowship named for Lewis was a humbling experience. “I mean, his amazing legacy of nonviolent activism, of refusing to compromise on his values to the point of changing those of America … I was nervous to even associate myself with that legacy by applying,” he said. “But then I got it, and I still feel a little bit of hesitation about that, but I also feel really excited.” 

Throughout her time at Fordham, senior Olivia Griffin has been passionate about protecting the environment while supporting native communities. Now the Udall Foundation is recognizing her as a future leader in the environmental space. 

Griffin is a recipient of a 2024 Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, a highly competitive award for scholars building impactful careers in environmental protection, tribal public policy, or health care. The tribal public policy and health care tracks are only awarded to Native American and Alaskan Native scholars, while the environmental track that Griffin earned is open to all, meaning the competition is fierce. Out of 341 applicants in the environmental category, she was one of 37 who received the scholarship.

The benefits of the scholarship include $7,000 for academic expenses, connection to a vibrant alumni network, and a four-day orientation in Tucson, Arizona. Griffin especially enjoyed meeting fellow Udall scholars at the orientation this summer and listening to lectures about indigenous ecological knowledge. 

When she learned her application was successful, “I was ecstatic,” Griffin said. The scholarship is just her latest award — she also earned Fordham’s Trinity Financial Fellowship in Urban Studies for 2024. 

Connecting with Native Heritage and Mother Earth

Griffin grew up in Oklahoma City and is a member of the Cherokee Nation. She says she feels a strong link to the environment that stretches all the way back to her ancestors. She recalled a passage from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass” that illustrates this connection. 

“It’s a pretty well-known creation story that varies from tribe to tribe of this sky woman falling down to the Earth and all the animals that help her with her landing. She brings these seeds down, and she creates the planet, sort of like a Mother Earth character,” said Griffin. “Tied into Indigenous origin stories is this inherent sustainability and care for the Earth.”

Environmental Advocacy at Fordham and Beyond

Griffin is a member of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Honors Program, pursuing a degree in Urban Studies with a minor in English. She’s also a member of the United Student Government at Rose Hill Sustainability Committee, where she plans events like cleanups and educational seminars and a member of Students for Environmental Action and Justice. 

Griffin has interned with Cherokee Federal, where she helped manage Federal environmental projects. The scholarship is making it possible for her to continue gaining valuable experience in the field alongside her studies. As part of an internship with Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, she’s started working with Bronx community members to study and address brownfield sites, former industrial areas contaminated by pollutants that can pose risks to human health. 

“The scholarship will help to cover my expenses since the nonprofit can’t pay me. That will definitely help compensate some of my work,” she said. 

A Rising Star in Sustainability

After graduation, Griffin plans to work for a few years before pursuing a master’s in urban planning at a school with a focus on indigenous planning and resource management. 

Combining urban planning, environmentalism, and tribal studies makes for a rare specialty, but Griffin hopes other scholars will follow in her path. “I’d like to see how my experiences and knowledge could help the Cherokee Nation, but also in a broader sense,” she said. 

—Alex Williamson

That’s the question driving the summer research of Jackson Saunders, a rising senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill. In a Fordham lab, he’s building chambers to split and direct the flow of sound, pursuing research that could impact not only acoustics but also bulletproofing, rocket design, and more.

Innovative Acoustics

Saunders, a physics and philosophy double major, is working under the guidance of Camelia Prodan, Ph.D., the Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Professor of Physics at Fordham. Supported by a summer fellowship from Fordham’s Campion Institute, Saunders is building on Prodan’s research into acoustic techniques inspired by topological materials.

First discovered around 1980, these materials intrigue scientists because of their internal configurations, or topology, that guide electricity into precise streams separated by gaps that block current. A topological insulator, for instance, can channel electricity along its surface but keep it from passing through to the other side.

Since then, scientists have found that such segmented flows can be seen beyond electricity.

Prodan published research in January showing that acoustic materials can be designed to guide the flow of sound in a similar way.

Building Sound Chambers in the Lab

Based on that research, Saunders is building a series of sound chambers that mimic the internal symmetries of topological materials, perfecting a design that will split sound in the same way that topological materials direct electricity into discrete streams.

It’s a project that showcases physics that dates back to Isaac Newton, Saunders said, with the behavior of atoms and electrons being recreated in larger objects like the sound chambers he’s making with a 3D printer.

“We’re taking a very well-studied quantum mechanical effect and realizing it” with classical physics, he said. “What’s novel about what we’re doing is we’re showing that we can create specific applications … using this classical mechanical approach.”

Through the project, he’s helping to build knowledge that could have many uses, from making better soundproofing materials to reducing urban noise pollution to designing rooms that contain all the sound generated within them—even if one side is open.

From Better Bulletproofing to Quantum Computing

Studies of topology-based sound flows could have implications for other innovative materials as well, he said. These could include bulletproof vests that dissipate a bullet’s impact along their surface or a rocket built to channel vibrations along its surface during takeoff without rattling the electronics within.

Topological materials could also be applied in the development of quantum computers that have vastly greater processing power. “Any field that has computation, quantum computing will benefit,” so it’s exciting to be working on questions related to that, no matter how tangentially, Saunders said.

In his research, he has an eye on the past as well as the future. “I’m doing work that is at the leading edge of a 400-year legacy of scientists, and that’s motivating,” he said. “You want to be part of that.”

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.

Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, said the students’ early start in the lab, as well as their close collaboration with faculty, were significant factors in receiving the award, which is granted to sophomores and juniors.

“The Goldwater Foundation is looking for students who will become our nation’s leaders in STEM research, so they’re interested in students who have already made an impact, sharing their findings at conferences and in publications,” Ronald said. “Our two Goldwater scholars started undergraduate early and have great mentors. Both Dr. Ipsita Banerjee and Dr. Nicholas Sawyer have worked closely with these students to enable them to produce national quality research as undergraduates.”

Researching Natural ‘Chemo-Targeting Devices’

Biggs’s research explores how proteins (and peptides) can be designed from natural products—or molecules that are produced by living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, fish, mollusks and plants—can be used as “tumor-targeting devices.”

“The goal is to be able to specifically target therapeutics to the tumors, so that it avoids damage to non-cancer cells, and mitigate the side effects that chemotherapy is known for,” said Biggs, a junior majoring in biochemistry.

Biggs and Banerjee grew replica multi-cellular miniature tumors as models in the lab to test their newly designed molecules and examine mechanisms of drug delivery into the tumors. This summer, she’s going to continue her work, this time with ovarian tumors and “other naturally derived cancer targeting molecules.”

“It’s just been wild to be an undergraduate and to have access to these kinds of research opportunities,” she said.

Biggs joined Banerjee’s lab her first year, after going to talk with her about declaring her major.

“She is fantastic,” Banerjee said. “She was always interested in natural product work and the applications of biochemistry and chemistry. She’s a quick learner and one thing I look for in my students is ambition and passion for research. She has the ambition, the motivation, perseverance and she’s very detail oriented.”

The Role of Shapes in Chemistry

Victorio, who will earn one bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Fordham University and a second bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in chemical engineering as a part of Fordham’s 3-2 cooperative program in engineering, was nominated for the Goldwater award through Columbia.

Sawyer said that he and the students in his lab work on developing peptides—short chains of amino acids—that act as treatments and gain access to the cell’s interior.

“What Clara set out to do is help us, as a scientific community, develop a fundamental understanding of how shape plays a role in how peptides enter cells,” he said.

Victorio’s work included an accidental discovery: She set out to take a peptide that had one shape and turn it into a second type of shape, but her work showed that it can actually make a third shape as well.

“It’s really rewarding when a reaction works as expected, because it doesn’t always do that,” she said with a smile. “But, some of the results of the reactions were surprising, and they spun into these whole new avenues.”

Sawyer said that Victorio’s work is at the center of a collaboration with colleagues from the University of Missouri, where they’re continuing to study “where this third shape comes from, and what the factors are that contributed to making that happen.”

Barberena, a native of Ocean Springs, Mississippi who had been attending on a prestigious Jack Cooke Kent scholarship, found herself searching for a new school.

Getting Involved on Campus

She’s now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS). In her short time at Fordham, she has been active in the University’s Immigration Advocacy Coalition and Model United Nations Club. Working with the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, Barberena was selected as one of Fordham’s Truman Scholarship nominees.

A Trip to the Mexican Border

Last month she traveled to the Mexican border in Arizona on a Global Outreach (GO) trip. She enjoyed it so much she will be leading a GO trip to Texas this summer.

“I had a phenomenal time. It was such a great learning experience for me, and I made so many good friends,” she said.

“All of my professors have been super nice, and I feel like all of them want me to succeed,” she said.

Faith and Community

For Barberena, it helps that, like the King’s College, Fordham has deep connections to the Christian faith through its Jesuit heritage.

“I really appreciate a lot of the community work that Fordham is doing and the philosophical approaches that they have,” she said.

“I feel like it promotes learning and independent thinking, but also being in a community and learning from the community that you’re in.”

Advocating for Immigrants

After she graduates in December, she’d like to go to law school and specialize in immigration law. This month, at the suggestion of Cary Kasten, Ph.D., she started an internship at the Center for Migration Studies of New York. She was moved to get involved in the field in 2019 when ICE raids detained 600 illegal immigrants in Mississippi. As a child, she attended a Spanish-speaking church in Meridian, Mississippi, and she knew that many fellow parishioners from that parish had legal statuses similar to those detained.

“Thinking of the people who I had gone to church with being detained and potentially deported was really sad. I was thoroughly disgusted,” she said.

“I started looking into immigration law and politics, and honestly, it made me even more sad. That’s what made me want to become an advocate for migrants.”

Service in the cause of others was something that she was already well acquainted with, having become Mississippi’s first female Eagle Scout in 2019. While earning an associate’s degree at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, she raised $50,000 to endow a newly created Society Advocating for Latin Student Advancement (SALSA) Scholarship, which grants $2,000 a year for Hispanic students seeking an associate degree. The first recipient was a political refugee from Venezuela who she’d met through ESL classes offered at the college.

Tara E. Czechowski, Ph.D., an associate dean at PCS who taught Barberena in her course Texts and Contexts, said that Barberena created a sense of community through her participation.

“Her energy gives other people energy to participate in class, respond, and take an interest in the subject,” she said.

“PCS students really are unstoppable in general, but Lucia’s level of dedication to public service, to people outside of herself, is unique. She’s the epitome of the whole idea of “men and women for others.”

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.

“The laws exist,” said Giselle Schmitz, GSAS ’22, “but the economics really drive these races for resources.”

The conservation-minded researcher arrived in Bali, Indonesia, in August to work with the Coral Triangle Center, a nonprofit that connects governments, corporations, and local groups to help strengthen marine resource management in the region. Two big questions drive her work, she said: “How can a community be supported in the management of their own resources, and how can we reduce the outside stressors on those resources coming from countries that may have an exploitative interest?”

Schmitz was placed at the Coral Triangle Center after earning a Luce Scholarship, a prestigious award that gives early-career leaders an immersive professional experience in Asia. It marked the second fellowship she’s earned since graduating from Fordham’s international political economy and development (IPED) master’s degree program in 2022.

Finding a ‘Perfect Fit’ at Fordham

A California native and longtime scuba diver, Schmitz said protecting the oceans has always been a key part of her career goals. After majoring in English and minoring in biology at Walla Walla University in Washington, she earned a law degree at the University of Oregon, where she studied with Professor Richard Hildreth, who had been instrumental in passing several key environmental protections in the U.S.

After law school, she joined the Peace Corps to gain the kind of global experience she felt would be essential to environmental work, especially as rising sea levels and other effects of climate change permeate international borders. She was teaching at Gansu University of Political Science and Law in Lanzhou, China, in February 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak cut short her time there.

That’s when Schmitz discovered the Fordham graduate program. She had been looking for a way to continue her global education in the U.S., and the IPED program was a “perfect fit,” she said, not only because it participates in the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program, which provides financial assistant to returning Peace Corps volunteers, but also because it equips students—with classes like Econometrics and Development Economics—to work on complex issues in the face of competing interests.

Global Fellowships and Local Action

Schmitz said another highlight of her Fordham experience was working with the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, which helps students and alumni apply for funding and scholarships like the Fulbright and Truman. These prestigious fellowships allow them to pursue research and find innovative solutions to complex societal challenges, from marine resource management to subway accessibility.

With the support of the prestigious fellowships office—plus IPED program director Henry Schwalbenberg, Ph.D., and program manager Donna Odra—Schmitz applied for and earned a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in 2022, the year she completed the Fordham program. She worked in the Office of Science and Technology at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. For a year, she studied how community-based research can help the government manage fisheries “in a way that makes sense for the ecosystem, including the [people] that depend on it.”

And while her research has brought her across the world to promote sustainable development, Schmitz believes that we can all find inspiration and take action closer to home.

“Finding those pieces to continue to be inspired by is so important, because otherwise, climate looks like a monumental challenge,” Schmitz said. “I think keeping hope active comes from those small actions, those tangible steps you can take.”

The Critical Language Scholarship Program, run by the U.S. Department of State, provides intensive summer language and cultural exchange programs across the world. Chisti is one of 17 Fordham students who have been awarded the scholarship since the program began in 2006. 

An Aspiring Foreign Service Officer

Chisti will study Arabic, one of the most spoken languages in the world—and a language that is important to her Muslim faith. Chisti grew up reading the Muslim holy book, the Quran, which is written in Arabic. She also studied classic Arabic throughout high school.

From June to August, Chisti will learn intermediate Arabic in Morocco. When she returns home, she plans to pursue her goal of becoming a foreign service officer, focused on the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. She’s also considering law school. 

“It’s important to understand conflicts in the MENA area and why this area is crucial, especially since it’s a source of global economic energy resources,” Chisti said. 

A Global Education at Fordham

Chisti is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants. She was raised by her father, a taxi driver, and her mother, who reared Chisti and her three siblings in Brooklyn. Chisti enrolled at Fordham as a member of the University’s Higher Education Opportunity Program. This May, she became the second member of her family to earn a college degree. (Last year, her older sister graduated from Columbia University.)

In her studies at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, including the selective Matteo Ricci Seminar, she learned about different world views. “In my humanitarian studies program, we didn’t just talk about what’s done right by the U.S. We talked about every aspect, the things we need to fix, and that we can fix them,” Chisti said. 

Outside of the classroom, Chisti tutored and taught students at Goddard Riverside, New Visions for Public Schools, and Harlem Children’s Zone. On Global Outreach projects to Colombia and Mexico, she met with community partners and examined immigrant issues. This year, she interned with the International Rescue Committee, where she taught English to adult ESL students and helped immigrants to pursue their career and education goals. At Fordham, she also served as president of the Muslim Students Association at Lincoln Center. 

“Fordham has given me a lot of opportunities,” Chisti said. “It gave me a stool, and I took the jump to get where I needed to be.” 

In addition to Chisti, three other students and alumni were awarded a Critical Language Scholarship or named an alternate during the 2022-2023 academic school year:

• Caitlin Leib, FCLC ’23, a French studies graduate from Connecticut, is in the Beginner Russian Spark program.
• Alexander Meyer, GSAS ’24, an international political economy and development major from Arizona, is an alternate for Beginner Portuguese.
• Alexandra Tamsi, FCRH ’24, an international studies major from Connecticut, is an alternate for Intermediate Russian.

 

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program supports undergraduates with a strong academic record and community impact who have been historically underrepresented in study abroad programs. Nearly half of all Gilman Scholars are first-generation college students; about 70% identify as racial or ethnic minority students. The Gilman Scholarship is a key program of the U.S. Department of State, intended to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of U.S. foreign policy.

Thirty-two Fordham students have been awarded the scholarship over the past decade, with this year being the highest number yet.

Combating ‘Japanglish’

Among this year’s Gilman Scholars is Karen Watanabe, a rising senior at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, who earned a scholarship this January and is studying at Sophia University in Tokyo from March to August. 

“I wanted to rekindle my relationship with my culture,” said Watanabe, a Japanese American who grew up in Sunnyside, Queens. “Over the years, my Japanese has become more like Japanglish. I took more Japanese classes at Fordham and realized that my Japanese has improved, but it can become even better.”

Watanabe, a political science major and peace and justice studies minor, has taken courses in Japan that are difficult to find back home, including Japanese government and politics and modern Japanese history. “As a political science major, I think it’s important to learn about different systems of government,” said Watanabe, who aspires to be a diplomat or translator. 

While living in a dorm in Tokyo, she has visited the biggest shrine in the city, participated in popular festivals like Kanda Matsuri, and spent time with her family members who live in Japan.  

Watanabe—a first-generation college student and member of the Higher Education Opportunity Program at Fordham—said she is thankful to Fordham for helping her achieve a dream she’s had since high school: to study abroad. 

An ‘Amazing Opportunity’

Devin Moreno, an incoming junior at the Gabelli School of Business, will study at Fordham London next spring. Moreno, an applied accounting and finance double major, said Fordham’s London campus had all the classes he wanted to take—and a bonus backdrop. 

“It’s an amazing opportunity, especially for lower-income students. …  [T]he Gilman Scholarship makes it a little less expensive and attainable for me and my mom,” said Moreno, the son of a single mother in the Bronx who wants to someday start his own accounting firm, primarily to help low-income families with their finances. “I’m so thankful that I’m at a school where I can study while traveling around the world.” 

In addition to the Gilman scholarship, there are new changes in study abroad financing at Fordham, expanding access to study abroad. 

Watanabe and Moreno are joined by five other Fordham students in receiving a Gilman Scholarship during the 2022-2023 academic school year:

• Rumsha Aqil, FCRH ’25, an economics major from New Jersey, will study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom in Spring 2024.
• Jillian Klostermann, FCRH ’25, an international studies major from Massachusetts, will study at Freie Universitat in Berlin, Germany, in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.
• Emily Lai, FCLC ’23, a political science major from New York, is studying at Fordham London in Spring 2023.
• Sabrin Sultana, FCLC ’24, an economics major from New York, will study at the American University in Dubai in Fall 2023. 
• Hannah Yang, GABELLI ’25, an applied accounting and finance major from New York, will study at Fordham London in Spring 2024.