Wabash College duo awarded Gilman Scholarships

Two Wabash College students have earned Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad.

Samuel Proctor ’23 and Ryan Sowers ’23 earned scholarships to study in Athens, Greece, and Osaka, Japan, respectively, for their international experiences. Twenty-two Wabash students now have earned Gilman Scholarships since 2016.

“I am very pleased for Ryan and Sam,” said Susan Albrecht, Wabash College Fellowship Advisor. “They are very deserving recipients of the Gilman Scholarship. The pandemic has made it a difficult time to plan for study abroad, and it’s tempting to give up on the process, including applying for a major fellowship. It’s terrific that so many Wabash men have remained resilient and flexible regarding their study abroad experiences and worked hard to apply for a fellowship.”

A psychology major with minors in classics and philosophy, Proctor serves as a peer career advisor at the Schroeder Center for Career Development, is a member of the rugby team, and played a year of football for the Little Giants in 2019.

It will be the first trip abroad for Proctor.

“I decided to apply after hearing about the scholarship through Wabash faculty members. It feels amazing to be selected,” said Proctor, a native of Lebanon, Indiana. “Because of COVID there are still a lot of challenges ahead. This experience is going to open my mind with opportunities to learn. I hope to better understand the world beyond the country I live in.”

Sowers, a humanities major with a minor in economics, has served as a consultant in the Wabash Writing Center and has worked on the staff of The Bachelor, the school newspaper, and has worked as a Japanese tutor.

“Having received a Gilman means that I’ll be able to study abroad in Japan, taking intensive language courses, for a longer period of time as long as the border opens back up,” said Sowers, a native of Ladoga, Indiana. “What I’m looking forward to the most with this opportunity is boosting my language skills to a level that I can leverage in a professional context.”

Previously, Sowers won a Freeman-ASIA Scholarship to study at Nanzan University in Japan last year.

Run by the Institute of International Education, the purpose of the Gilman International Scholarship program is to encourage participation in study abroad programs for under-represented students, particularly those who are studying in under-represented areas of the world and/or under-represented languages.

The IIE seeks to support a cohort of American students studying abroad which reflects the true diversity of the nation. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages, and economies, making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.

Over the last nine years, Wabash men have earned 72 international fellowships. The list includes a Rhodes Scholar, 26 Fulbright recipients, 22 Gilman Scholarship recipients, 11 USTA fellowship recipients, seven North American Language and Culture Assistantships in Spain, three TAPIF English Teaching Assistantships (France), one Freeman-ASIA Scholarship, and one JET recipient.