IU students receive prestigious national study abroad scholarship

Three Indiana University students have received the prestigious Gilman International Scholarship to be used for study abroad this fall. Senior Aaron Hankins, junior Natoyia Johnson, and senior Adam O'Bara, all from the Bloomington campus, have each been awarded a $5,000 scholarship. Hankins, an Afro-American Studies and Spanish double major, won the award for an academic year of study in Madrid, Spain. Johnson, a double major in political science and East Asian Languages & Cultures, will study for a semester in Tokyo, Japan. O'Bara, an East Asian Languages & Cultures major, will study for a year in Nagoya, Japan. Since the 2001 inception of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, seven Indiana University students have received a total of $33,000 in scholarships.

The Gilman Scholarship Program is part of a United States government policy initiative to encourage study abroad for U.S. undergraduates. The federal government, specifically the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, views study abroad as an important part of the undergraduate experience for individual students and fundamental to the nation's economic and diplomatic future. The scholarships are intended for students who demonstrate academic merit and already qualify for federal financial aid. Scholarship applications for spring are due October 15. Information about the Gilman scholarships, including application materials, is available at http://www.iie.org/gilman. Information about study abroad at IU is available through the Office of Overseas Study located in Franklin Hall 303 and on the web at http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas. Contact the office by phone at 812-855-9304.