September 10, 2024 – Bennett College has been named a Fulbright Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Institutional Leader for 2024, having received the designation each year since the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs inaugurated this recognition. Bennett College has been featured in each of the five years of the initiative.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) annually recognizes the engagement of HBCUs with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program.
Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders demonstrate noteworthy support for Fulbright exchange participants and encourage administrators, faculty, and students at HBCUs to engage with Fulbright on campus. The Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders initiative highlights HBCUs as a destination for international students and scholars and showcases the deep intellectual tradition and proud history of each to audiences abroad.
Bennett College hosts two Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) annually as part of its commitment to providing international language and cultural education to their students, whether they travel abroad or not.
The announcement of the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders was made on September 10, 2024 in advance of the 2024 Annual National HBCU Week Conference hosted by the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken congratulated each HBCU Institutional Leader, saying this designation “is a testament to your institution’s dedication to promoting global engagement and international understanding.”
“The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Program are committed to reflecting the full diversity of the United States,” said Scott Weinhold, Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, emphasizing that HBCU engagement with the Fulbright Program helps to accomplish this goal and “builds meaningful relationships between communities and people around the world.”
“Historically Black Colleges and Universities are vital contributors to America’s higher education community. They are dedicated institutions working to develop the leaders of tomorrow,” said Weinhold.
President Suzanne Elise Walsh, JD says, “receiving the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader designation for the fifth year is a testament to Bennett College’s commitment to supporting an environment of cultural exploration for our students and faculty, which ties into our strategic pillar of being Open To and For the Future. Having a class with a FLTA is ‘the first taste of the world’ for many of our students,” she said. “They bring cultural programming in addition to teaching languages.” Bennett students are encouraged to see “more of the world” because of classroom interactions with FLTAs, which has led to additional study abroad opportunities.
According to Dr. Anne Hayes, Executive Director of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, the Fulbright FLTAs teach foreign languages like Arabic, Yoruba, Zulu, and Swahili, and offer cultural programs for the whole college community. Hayes says the impact they make at Bennett is reciprocal, since FLTAs benefit from “mentoring and professional development …most of our recent FLTAs are now in PhD programs all over the world, reinforcing their dedication to global engagement.”
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals, of all backgrounds and in all fields, the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program.
The Fulbright Program implements a wide range of initiatives to ensure that its participants reflect all aspects of the diversity of U.S. society and societies abroad. The Program also cultivates relationships with external stakeholders, including the White House Initiative on HBCUs, Diversity Abroad, UNCF, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, the American Association of Community Colleges, and Mobility International, among many others.
Learn more about the Fulbright Program at https://fulbrightprogram.org, including Fulbright’s commitments to DEIA within the program and about how HBCUs engage with the Fulbright Program.
Follow the Fulbright Program’s social media accounts and websites for highlights on HBCUs, including Bennett College, and Fulbright:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fulbright
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FulbrightPrgrm
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/the_fulbright_program
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fulbright
