After the EUSA conference, Executive Director Erica Lutes finished her stay in the DC area with a visit to the EU Delegation to the U.S., along with Fulbright program officers from the U.S. Department of State, the Institute for International Education (IIE), and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES). The group discussed how educational exchange can be used as a strategic tool to strengthen U.S.-EU relations and the future of Fulbright Schuman programming. This year, 2012-13 Fulbright Schuman student Thomas Keating participated in DC’s Embassy Open House Day (http://www.euopenhouse.org/) where he helped acquaint the public with the EU Delegation’s work in the nation’s capital. The Fulbright Schuman program hopes to work with the EU Delegation to the U.S. to increase these programmatic connections in the future.
After this, Erica travelled up through the Northeast region, visiting some of America’s top universities and promoting the Fulbright Belgium and Fulbright Schuman programs. She met with Christopher Hill, Associate Director of the Blinken European Institute, and Paul Bohlmann, Dean of Fellowships, at Columbia University in New York, then she visited Princeton, CUNY, Yale, Boston University, and Tufts University. At Yale, Erica met with Professor Emile Boulpaep, President of the Belgian American Educational Foundation, to discuss how the two scholarship organizations can increase the reach of their impact moving forward. Many Fulbright grantees also receive grants from the BAEF each year.
At Tufts University, Erica met with Director of Admissions & Financial Aid Laurie Hurley and Professor/former Fulbright Schuman Chair at the College of Europe Alan Henrikson at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy.
Erica’s university tour ended in Boston, where she met with current Fulbright Belgium student Phebe Dudek at a local bakery for breakfast, then headed to Harvard to discuss the future of the Harvard BOAS award (http://www.fulbright.be/fulbright-awards/boas-grants/).
Erica is now in St. Louis, where she is preparing to help Belgian universities, hogescholen, and haute ecoles connect with US university officials at the NAFSA conference to develop meaningful exchanges and find funding for Belgian students. During the conference, Fulbright Belgium will host a Belgian beer event with the kind sponsorship of Duvel and Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Sam Fox. If you will be at NAFSA, please email secretary@fulbright.be to reserve your place at the event and stop by!
