Two Berea College students received national recognition from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program through the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Meredith Black ’19 received her Fulbright award to be an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Germany and Shelby Wheeler ’16 to be an ETA in Spain.
Shelby Wheeler ’16
Black and Wheeler were among 2,000 U.S. citizens chosen for this honor. They will teach abroad for the 2020-21 academic year. Fulbright recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.
“We commend Meredith and Shelby, congratulating them for their high achievement in winning this prestigious Fulbright recognition,” said Ann Butwell, education abroad advisor for Berea’s Center for International Education. “They will be contributing greatly to international understanding at a time when the world needs building up.”
Meredith Black ’19
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and other countries. The Fulbright program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright program has given more than 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbright scholars address critical global challenges in all disciplines while building relationships, knowledge and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 84 who have received Pulitzer prizes and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
For more information about the Fulbright program, visit the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs website. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program at Berea College gets administered through the Center for International Education. Ann Butwell is the school’s Fulbright program advisor. For more information about Berea’s deadlines and application procedures visit the Center for International Education’s website.