NEWS from Central Connecticut State University
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Media contact: Bart Fisher, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
(860) 832-1624; Fisherb@ccsu.edu

CCSU Student Awarded Fulbright Scholarship, will Conduct Linguistic Research in Europe                                             

NEW BRITAIN (August 6, 2007) Central Connecticut State University Master’s Degree candidate Megan Alubicki has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship.  The grant will allow the Master’s of Science in International Studies program student to conduct research in Sweden and Belgium during the upcoming academic year.  

Ms. Alubicki’s research topic is “Speaking European: Promoting Linguistic Diversity through Public Education in Sweden and Belgium.”  She will spend five months at Sweden’s Vaxjo University, a CCSU overseas partner institution, and five months at Vesalius College –Vrije Universiteit in Brussels.  “Megan’s strong academic preparation, coupled with her outgoing and inquisitive personality, ensure that she will be an outstanding representative of our University while studying abroad,” said Lisa Marie Bigelow, CCSU Campus Fulbright Coordinator and Associate Director of the George R. Muirhead Center for International Education.

Including the CCSU honoree, more than 1,300 American citizens will be traveling abroad in the coming months thanks to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.  Generally regarded as America’s premier international educational exchange program and sponsored by the Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the prestigious program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.  Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has assisted approximately 279,500 people – 105,400 Americans who have studied, taught or done research abroad and 174,100 students, scholars and teachers from around the globe who have engaged in similar activities in the United States.  It operates in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program counts among its “alumni:” 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, Ruth Simmons, president of Brown University and Craig Barrett, chairman of the board at Intel Corporation.

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