Two seniors and two alumni will travel to
Uganda, Mexico, Colombia and Austria for studies and teaching
Two Santa Clara University seniors and two alumni have been
awarded Fulbright Scholarships to study or teach abroad during the
2015-2016 academic year.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to these outstanding
Fulbright scholars,” said University President Michael Engh, S.J.
“Their accomplishments and intellectual endeavors represent the
best of Santa Clara University. They, like Santa Clara, have a
special appreciation for the international exchange of ideas and
culture as a source for positive global change.”
The SCU student winners are:
*Senior Keyra Galvan, an economics and international
business major and LEAD Scholar, who will travel to Mexico City,
Mexico, to combine business coursework with an internship at a
Mexico-based company. Galvan, a 21-year-old native of San Jose,
Calif., says she discovered during her study-abroad in Spain that
“cultural awareness” was something she loved and valued. On campus,
she has been active in the Multicultural Center and Alpha Kappa
Psi, the professional business fraternity.
*Senior Ty Van Herweg, an economics and theatre double
major and English minor from Woodinville, Wash, who will go to
villages in Uganda for a project to help entrepreneurs get their
products to rural customers, known as “last mile distribution.” The
project will utilize a phone app, with the aim of increasing
incomes of rural entrepreneurs and motorcyclists who deliver
products. While on campus, he has been active in theatre
productions on campus and Santa Clara Community Action Program, as
well as tutoring for the economics department. Van Herweg, 22,
credits his experience as a Global Social Benefit Fellow through
SCU’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, with helping him
win the Fulbright to Uganda, where he traveled for a summer as a
Fellow to help social entrepreneurship business Banapads.
The SCU alumni who won Fulbrights are:
*Jenny Kromm, 2013 history major and music minor, who
will be in Vienna, Austria, to study censorship campaigns there in
WWI, and their impact on the arts. Kromm, a 24-year-old whose
hometown is Santa Clara, studied in Vienna through an SCU Research
Travel Award in 2011 and received many scholarships and
opportunities to study German music and language while at SCU. Her
Fulbright topic was influenced by a history class taught by
Professor Matthew Newsom Kerr called War and Democracy: WWI in the
UK, which she said “changed my life”; and by her senior thesis,
which focused on the collapse of the Austrian monarchy before and
during WWI and rising nationalism of former Austro-Hungarian
territories.
*Jeff Moran, a 2004 graduate in theatre arts and English,
who will be an English teaching assistant in Colombia. While an SCU
student, Moran, from Stockton, Calif., performed in nine mainstage
productions and was an actor, director or playwright in dozens of
student-created pieces. While getting his master’s in teaching
English as a second language, the 32-year-old became interested in
“the connection between language and culture,” which he hopes to
explore during his year as a Fulbright scholar in Colombia. He also
plans to work in a service project to help build sustainable social
change.
Two Broncos also were chosen as alternates, meaning they will be
able to pursue their scholarships if others cannot accept:
*Joseph Alexander-Short, a 2014 religious studies major
and international studies, communications and political science
minor, for a project in El Salvador on unaccompanied minors
*Yasmeen Wanees, a senior political science major and
anthropology, Arabic & Mid Eastern studies minor and honors
program and LEAD Scholar, for a project in Morocco on the effects
of the Argan oil industry on Moroccan women’s livelihoods.
“We are extremely proud of these Fulbright winners, who have
worked hard for this honor and have put us on track to be a
“Fulbright Top Producer” university for the third year in a row,”
said Leilani Miller, director of the Office of Student Fellowships.
“We are also proud of our Fulbright alternates, who have shown the
same level of excellence in their college and post-college
careers.”
About the Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational
exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed
to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United
States and the people of other countries. The primary source of
funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made
by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and
host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign
countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect
support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis
of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated
leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in more
than 155 countries worldwide. For further information please visit
http://fulbright.state.gov.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic
university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s
Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous
undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and
engineering; master’s degrees in business, education, counseling
psychology, pastoral ministry, and theology; and law degrees and
engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest
graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s
oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates
faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more
information, see www.scu.edu.
Santa Clara UniversityDeborah Lohse, 408-554-5121Media
Relationsdlohse@scu.edu