Every year, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers competitive fellowships to support students across the nation who wish to pursue advanced studies, research, or teaching opportunities abroad. This year, seven Gettysburg students were named Fulbright semifinalists and three received prestigious grants to go abroad: Anna Benson ’23 (Argentina), Peter Wildgruber ’24 (Austria), and Leila Elshehawy ’24 (Palestine). Guadalupe Lazaro ’24 (Spain) was named an alternate.
These Fulbright honorees represent the most for Gettysburg College since 2020-2021 and the most grantees in the past decade. Through their global experiences, these students will have the opportunity to employ the knowledge and enduring skills they gained at Gettysburg to grow personally and professionally and represent the United States in foreign countries.
“To win a Fulbright grant is an incredible achievement and a tremendous honor. To see our students competing for—and winning—these highly selective awards is a testament to their hard work and incredible talents, but also to the entire Gettysburg community,” said German Studies Prof. Tres Lambert, who helps oversee the Fulbright program on campus alongside Jesse Phillips, the interim director of the Center for Global Education. “We seek to create global citizens who will make a difference in the world, and place tremendous emphasis on global education. The success of our students in this highly prestigious competition really affirms that we are delivering on this goal."
Partnering with 160 countries around the world, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the flagship international academic exchange program sponsored by the United States government. It offers experiences in all academic disciplines to graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals through study and research grants as well as English Teaching Assistantships. Fulbright recipients live, work, and learn from natives of their host countries, growing their intercultural fluency skills in the classroom and field of work, and go on to serve consequential roles in their careers as global citizens and leaders.
“The success of these Gettysburg students is an excellent example of the Gettysburg Approach in action,” said Phillips. “With intentional advising from our dedicated faculty and staff, students are able to leverage their curricular and co-curricular experiences throughout their time here toward these prestigious post-graduate opportunities.”
This year’s honorees are:
Anna Benson ’23
- Majors: International and global studies, public policy, and Spanish
- Fulbright Honor: Recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Argentina
Grace Bushway ’21
- Major: Spanish
- Fulbright Honor: Semifinalist for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Mexico
Abigail Dryden ’24
- Majors: Political science and Spanish
- Minor: Chemistry
- Fulbright Honor: Semifinalist for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Uruguay
Lana Ebert ’24
- Major: International and global studies
- Minors: Middle East and Islamic studies and religious studies
- Fulbright Honor: Semifinalist for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Morocco
Leila Elshehawy ’24
- Majors: History and international and global studies
- Minor: Middle East and Islamic studies
- Fulbright Honor: Recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Palestine
Guadalupe Lazaro ’24
- Major: Psychology
- Minors: Sociology and Spanish
- Fulbright Honor: Alternate for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Spain
Peter Wildgruber ’24
- Majors: German studies and history
- Fulbright Honor: Recipient of a Fulbright Combined Award with English Teaching Assistant and Research Grant to Austria
For the 2024-2025 award cycle, semifinalists were notified in January and finalist notifications continue through May 2024. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is currently accepting applications for the 2025-2026 award cycle until the national deadline of Oct. 8, 2024.
About the Fulbright U.S. Student Program
The Fulbright Program was introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas and passed into law by President Harry Truman in 1946. Each year, about 8,000 students, teachers, and professors from the United States and 160 countries receive grant awards, which are grounded in the notion of promoting “mutual and cross-cultural understanding” after the conclusion of World War II. In all, since the program was established, more than 400,000 Fulbright recipients have pursued global studies, research, and teaching in 165 countries. Fulbright alumni have included 62 Nobel Prize recipients, 78 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 41 current or former heads of state or government.
By Megan Miller
Photo by Miranda Harple
Posted: 05/03/24