University Communications
Denisonians win a record number of
national and international awards
Over the past half decade, the number of national and international fellowships, grants and scholarships awarded to Denison University students has increased virtually every year. This year is no exception.
A record 13 awards, with prestigious names like Fulbright, National Science Foundation, Goldwater and Congress-Bundestag, have been granted to Denisonians, and several others were highly ranked finalists. Last year nine students won national and international awards.
“I’m not surprised that our students and alumni are selected year after year,” says Denison President Dale Knobel. “Denisonians have the combination of academic achievement, global consciousness, and passion for service that makes them highly successful candidates for these awards.”
Last fall The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Denison as one of the top producers of Fulbright awards for U.S. students.
This year, the staff of Denison’s Honors Program worked with 38 students as they applied for 44 highly competitive national and international scholarships. The process is multi-faceted and often begins when students first arrive on campus.
“We routinely have many students, including first-year students, attending our information sessions and writing seminars,” says Kent Maynard, director of the Honors Program and professor of anthropology. “We conduct workshops and mock interviews because the application process requires a great deal of preparation. Students receive an enormous amount of support from the faculty and members of the administration. If ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ then it takes a university to help a student apply for a fellowship.”
Maynard says it’s not so much about winning awards as it is about helping students to define their aspirations.
“We start by asking students what would be their ideal vocation and avocation in 15 years,” he says. “By starting with where they want to end up, we are better able to help them form a path toward their goals. The students have to think long and hard about their lives and their ambitions. They create personal statements and proposals. They work very diligently, and by going through the process they get the kind of clear-eyed thinking that sometimes takes years and years for young people to realize. Even if they don’t win the award, the work they’ve done helps them to envision who they wish to be, as well as pragmatically in graduate school and every other endeavor.””
This year’s awardees will take on an amazing array of projects in locations around the world.