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CIC ANNOUNCES FIRST WINNERS OF THE AMERICAN GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
Liberal Arts College Grads Receive Fellowships
for Ph.D. Study at Brown, Columbia
For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2007 |
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WASHINGTON,
DC – The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) today announced
the inaugural recipients of the American Graduate Fellowships. Daniel
Berntson of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa and Adam Spry of
Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington have been named the
2007 American Graduate Fellows. They will each receive awards of $50,000
for a year of graduate study, renewable for a second year. Berntson will
pursue a doctoral degree in philosophy at Brown University and Spry has
accepted an offer to study American literature at Columbia University.
The American Graduate Fellowships (AGF) program is designed to promote
and support advanced study in the humanities by talented graduates of
small and mid-sized, private liberal arts colleges and universities. In
announcing the winners, CIC President Richard Ekman said, “These
scholars, and indeed all of the finalists, are truly talented and include
some of the most capable graduates of America’s smaller liberal
arts colleges and universities.” The first annual AGF competition
received applications from students at 53 different institutions across
the nation. The applications were reviewed by a panel of distinguished
humanities scholars, who selected a group of finalists representing eight
different fields of graduate study. The full list of finalists is included
below.
Daniel Berntson, of Paullina, Iowa, graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern
College in 2006 with a double major in philosophy and English literature.
Raised and home-schooled on a farmstead in rural Iowa, he “has a
first-class mind, is an extremely skilled and original interpreter of
texts, and a gifted writer,” said philosophy professor Donald Wacome,
Berntson’s academic advisor. Bernston received Northwestern’s
highly selective Peale Scholarship for four years, was named to the academic
dean’s list every semester during his enrollment, and conducted
honors research in English literature and philosophy. In addition, he
was president of Sigma Tau fraternity in 2006, held an internship at the
National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC in 2005, and was
the opinion page editor of the school newspaper for two years.
Adam Spry of Whiterock, New Mexico grew up on the isolated Flathead Indian
Reservation. He used his love of writing and literature to propel himself
through school and, against the odds, to college at Pacific Lutheran University
(PLU) in Tacoma, Washington. He graduates magna cum laude in May 2007
with a double major in English and art. Spry received PLU’s academic
scholarship for four years, was named to the dean’s list every semester,
and did a summer internship at the Santa Fe Contemporary Art Museum in
the art research and education department. “Adam Spry understands
the power of literature and language,” says PLU acting provost Patricia
Killen, adding that “He is precisely the kind of graduate PLU wants
to send out into the world, a young adult with the intellectual capacity,
personal commitment, and capaciousness of heart that allow one to make
a real difference in the lives of others.” Spry’s doctoral
work will focus on American literature of the 20th century, with a special
emphasis on Native American literature. He hopes to work with tribal colleges
to help expand the study of literature among Native Americans.
Other finalists will pursue graduate work at such distinguished universities
as Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago.
Karl Kroeber, Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Columbia, lauded the
AGF program for “doing about the most valuable work I can think
of in graduate education.”
The American Graduate Fellowships are funded by a generous grant from
the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation, Wichita Falls, Texas. Executive
Director Teresa Pontius said, “The Foundation congratulates CIC
on the wonderful result of this first year of competition. It is gratifying
to see such a talented group of graduates from private liberal arts institutions
enrolling in graduate studies at the very finest institutions.”
American Graduate Fellowships can be used to support doctoral study at
any of 23 leading private research institutions in the U.S., Great Britain,
and Ireland. The eligible fields of graduate study include history, philosophy,
literature and languages, and fine arts. Guidelines and application forms
for the 2007–2008 competition are available
here on CIC's website. The application deadline is October 15, 2007
for graduate study beginning in fall 2008.
AGF Finalists
- Christopher Adams, Vassar College, will study classics at the University
of California at Berkeley;
- Maggie Fromm, Claremont McKenna College, will pursue a degree in medieval
and renaissance studies at the University of Maryland, College Park;
- Jillian Graham, Gettysburg College, will pursue a master of arts in
English language and literature at the University of Virginia;
- Laura Oman, Hamilton College, will pursue a master’s degree
in humanities at the University of Chicago;
- Erica Rhodes, Juniata College, will study American history at Vanderbilt
University;
- Alisa Sánchez, Carleton College, will study rhetoric at the
University of California at Berkeley;
- Christopher Shirley, Lake Forest College, will study English at Northwestern
University;
- Joel Wright, Bard College, will pursue a master’s degree in
humanities at the University of Chicago; and
- Jeffrey Zamostny, McDaniel College, will study Spanish at the University
of Kentucky.
Graduate plans are still pending for finalists Eryn M. Bates, William
Jewell College; Dominique Gunst, University of Richmond; and Maria LaFary,
Hanover College.
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The Council of Independent Colleges is
an association of more than 570 independent, liberal arts colleges and
universities and 60 higher education affiliates and organizations that
work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain
high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions
to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills,
tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management
and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council
is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.
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