Five From SU Earn U.S. Fulbright Student Awards for 2019-20
SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University has five winners of prestigious U.S. Fulbright Student awards for the 2019-20 academic year – its largest number to date.
Senior David Basom and recent graduates Rachel Rolle and Danesha Owens-Harrell earned English Teaching Assistantships to India, South Korea and the Netherlands, respectively. Senior Lauren DeLong won a research award to Germany, and senior Noah Cline received a study award to pursue a master’s in Taiwan.
“Our winners are diverse – each of our colleges and schools are represented,” said Dr. Kristen Walton, director of SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office. “We have both bachelor’s and master’s students, two of them transferred from community colleges, and two are veterans of the U.S. military.”
Basom, a history/secondary education major from Hurlock, MD, will teach at the Sri Vidhyalakshmi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennangkuppam in the southern part of India.
“The Fulbright will help me gain experience that no textbook or internship can provide,” he said. “Working in such a diverse location, in a school system that is different from what we are used to, will help me understand all facets of educational philosophy.”
Rolle, of Arnold, MD, a 2018 finance graduate of SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, is awaiting placement in an elementary, middle or high school. She looks forward to returning to South Korea. She was born there and later studied on a Global Korea Scholarship during her senior year at SU.
“I hope to engage with my students and share the experience of how global and cultural understanding are a powerful tool for communication,” she said. “Working in an international environment will open doors to how I can incorporate my Fulbright experience with my business background.”
Owens-Harrell, a native of southeast Washington, D.C., is a two-time SU social work graduate earning her B.S.W. in 2015 and M.S.W. in 2018. She is the first Fulbrighter from SU’s new College of Health and Human Services. She hopes to learn about Dutch social programs, in addition to working with teens and young adults.
“Not many people from my neighborhood know about the vast opportunities that are out there to explore,” she said. “I want to utilize my experience to be a role model, and share it with the young people to encourage them to branch out and travel.”
DeLong, an Honors College biology major from Laurel, MD, will work in a molecular genetic stem cell lab at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.
“We are creating a virus to genetically alter stem cells for research purposes,” she said. “My project’s long term goal will help us understand the genetics behind how stem cells choose what type of cell they will be, which can ultimately inform regenerative medicine for injured patients.”
DeLong is no stranger to the Rheinbach campus. She completed a research internship there last summer through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and also was offered a DAAD Graduate Study Award.
Cline, of Franklin, IN, is a senior conflict analysis and dispute resolution major and member of SU’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He will engage in Asia-Pacific studies at National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
“I’m excited to explore Taiwan and live in a vibrant democracy,” he said. “I’m an Army careerist, so the Fulbright will allow me to explore paths that reflect my interests and open up opportunities down the line for Ph.D. candidacy and the chance to conduct research that has real national security implications.”
All of the Fulbright winners credit excellent faculty and staff mentors across campus with helping them be successful.
“It takes a village to raise a Fulbright Scholar, and SU has a tight and supportive community which allows our students truly to reach their potential,” Walton added.
More than 40 SU students have won national and international fellowships, scholarships and awards in the past five years. SU had a record number of 13 Fulbright Student semifinalists this year. For two consecutive years, The Chronicle of Higher Education spotlighted SU as one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright Students, and the campus also has a long history of faculty, administrator and alumni Fulbrighters.
The Fulbright is America’s flagship international exchange program and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
SU students or alumni who are interested in applying for national fellowships, may contact Walton at kpwalton@salisbury.edu for assistance. For more information, visit www.salisbury.edu/nationalfellowships.