Newly arrived Fulbright students at Ball State

Ball State University Telecommunications professor Dominic Caristi, Fulbright Program Advisor welcomes newly arrived Fulbright student grantees (L-R) Ajayi Nicol (Sierra Leone), Danielle Andriantsiferana (Madagascar), Kerstin Hammen (Germany) and Isabel Serrano Monteil (Venezuela).

Thirteen graduate students awarded prestigious Fulbright scholarships are members of Ball State's largest-ever populations of international students on campus.

Among the more than 500 international students at Ball State University this fall, the following are Fulbright grantees: Ali Hassan (Iraq), Maria Lucia Martinez (Venezuela) Svetlana Rybalko (Russia), Sadie Wright-Salmon (Jamaica), Farjan Zain (Indonesia), Danielle Andriantsiferana (Madagascar), Angela Castro (Columbia), Ajayi Nicol (Sierra Leone), Isabel Serrano Monteil (Venezuela), Oscar Ordonez Morales (Columbia), Kerstin Hammen (Germany), Pablo Acosta Acosta (Columbia) and Irianti Usman (Indonesia).

Overseas applicants for Fulbright student awards undergo a very selective interview process in their home countries. To be selected as a Fulbright grantee is one of the highest accolades earned by scholars and students around the world.

The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship program in international educational exchange, was proposed to the U.S. Congress in 1945 by then freshman Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The programs purpose has always been promoting "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world."

The Congressional appropriation for the Fulbright Program in fiscal year 2005 was $144.5 million. Foreign governments, through their binational commissions or foundations, contributed an additional $37 million directly to the Fulbright Program

Nearly forty alumni of the Fulbright program live in the Muncie area. This informal group organizes welcome receptions and cultural events to help achieve the goals of the Fulbright Program.