WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program began in 2001, 302 students took advantage of the opportunity the program provided to study in other parts of the world.
Since then, some 10,000 Gilman scholars have gone through the program to visit 125 countries on five continents, gaining invaluable experiences they never could have gotten had they not left their respective comfort zones on campus, much less the United States.
The program’s 10-year milestone – and its broad growth in diversity – were celebrated Thursday at Union Station in an auspicious gathering that featured U.S. State Department officials, university presidents and dozens of Gilman International Scholarship alumni who’ve gone on to launch careers in a variety of fields – from nursing to engineering – with a more global perspective.
“You’re dynamic, you’re diverse, you’re energetic and you’re ambitious American youth,” Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson, who leads the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, told former Gilman scholars during a gathering in the Columbus Club at Union Station.
“Diversity has been a cornerstone and a pillar of the Gilman scholarship program,” Carson said.
He noted that, last year, more than 60 percent of Gilman scholars hailed from ethnic minority groups – a percentage that has grown since the inception of the program.
“The Gilman program goes beyond ethnic diversity,” Carson said. “The program is actually diverse in multiple ways.”
