Haverford Named a Fulbright Top Producer

For the seventh time in the past eight years, Haverford College has been named one of the nation's top producers of participants in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program.

 Four recent graduates earned 2022-23 awards, a high number for a school the size of Haverford. ``One thing that distinguishes our students is a genuine curiosity about people and other experiences, perspectives, and cultures,’’ says Jason Chan, associate director of the Center for Career and Professional Advising (CCPA), who administers the Fulbright competition at Haverford. `` That aligns really well with Fulbright’s mission as a cultural exchange program.’’

The four graduates are dispersed all over the globe in a variety of disciplines. Darius Graham ‘21 is pursuing his master’s in public health at Imperial College London. Kirsten Mullin ‘19, has continued a journey activated by a grant from Haverford’s Center for Peace and Global Citizenship in 2017, using her Fulbright to research the relationship between local and international NGOs in Morocco, with the goal of strengthening those relationships. A linguistics major at Haverford, Naomi Kalombo ’’22 is using her Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award (ETA) in the small European nation of Luxembourg. Chace Pulley ‘21 is using her ETA to teach at the Universidad Cooperativa De Colombia in Villavicencio.

Besides teaching  English classes, Pulley—who will study law at Columbia University next fall—tutors students, hosts conversation clubs, and gives frequent talks about American culture. Graham, who is Fulbright’s only placement at the prestigious science-oriented Imperial School, is expanding research begun at Haverford entitled ``structural competence”— a framework in health professional education that aims for providers to understand how clinical problems and attitudes toward populations and health systems are influenced by social determinants of health—and how that framework could better address health inequities experienced by patients of color.

Raised in a home that spoke Lingala, Swahili, and French, Kalombo is honing her French in Luxembourg—one of three languages spoken there—while working as an aide teaching English. She is headed to law school in the fall. Mullin, in her first trip to Morocco, conducted research on Moroccan family law while working at the Cherry Buttons Women's Cooperative. She had been teaching English in Tangiers prior to accepting the Fulbright and returning to Morocco this year.

``The culture here at Haverford is very community centered—trust, concern, and respect are our institutional values,’’ says Chan. ``Our students, through their academic training and their extracurricular involvement, are well-rounded and graduate with rich and meaningful experiences. Those who can tell [their] story effectively, often make strong candidates in the Fulbright application process.”

``Fulbright is a unique opportunity for students to bridge their Haverford experiences with their  future career goals. By cultivating their interests and skills in a new cultural environment , while challenging themselves to step outside their comfort zone, students are gaining valuable experiences to help them be successful in their careers.”

Established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries, the Fulbright Program is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. It is funded primarily through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). 

Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 people have participated in the Fulbright Program. They come from more than 160 countries worldwide and from myriad backgrounds. Recent college and university graduates, teachers, scientists, researchers, artists, and more have returned home with a fuller understanding and appreciation of their host countries and peoples, and an expanded network of colleagues and friends that transcends geographic boundaries. Fulbright is active in and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit us.fulbrightonline.org . The application for the 2023–2024 Fulbright grant cycle will open on March 31, with an application deadline for Haverford students and alumni in early September. Those interested in applying this fall are strongly encouraged to contact Jason Chan this spring.

“Being a consistent Fulbright top-producing institution is not only a reflection of the caliber of our students and alumni,” says Chan, “but also a testament to the collective efforts of the Haverford community—students, staff, and faculty—in developing scholars, leaders, and citizens of the world.”