Fellowships Abound for Wabash Students

Six Wabash College students have accepted fellowships to engage internationally. In all, nine Wabash men have earned international and postgraduate fellowships this academic year.

Three students, Jacques Boulais ’19, Ian Gale ’22, and Kwaku Sarpong ’22, earned placements in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), while Chase Breaux ’24, Jacob Monninger ’24, and Caleb Peare ’24 received Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad.

“This was very welcome news for these six men,” said Susan Albrecht, Wabash College Fellowship Advisor. “During the last two years of the pandemic, we have seen a great deal of disruption for students hoping to study, teach, or research abroad, with record numbers of applicants, deferrals reducing new awards, and program cancellations.  It is wonderful to have students receive fellowships and know that they will at last be able to use them for international experiences.”

Since graduating from Wabash in 2019, Boulais taught English in Martinique through TAPIF in 2019-20 and then earned a master’s degree in French Studies virtually through the University of Wisconsin in December 2021.

While at Wabash, Boulais was a French major with minors in history and political science, a four-year member of the Wabash soccer team, a member of the Sphinx Club, a leader in the French Club, and a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He took immersion trips to Kenya, Paris, and the American South, studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, and made a Professional Immersion Experience trip with Career Services to Los Angeles.

“I am most excited to experience a new part of France and to put the language skills I’ve been practicing for years into my everyday life,” said Boulais, a native of Indianapolis. “I also would love to join a local soccer team while there. Honestly, it is such a huge relief to have my next adventure planned.”

Boulais will be based in Toulouse, France.

Gale, a philosophy major with minors in French and economics, was a member of the Malcolm X Institute for Black

Studies, served as editor of The Wabash Review, and participated in the Baldwin Oratorical Contest. He took an immersion trip to Paris and Caen, France, in March 2019 with Dr. Karen Quandt’s “Heroic Exploits in Normandy” class and graduated magna cum laude.

“Earning the TAPIF and having another year of my life planned is a relief,” said Gale, a native of Phoenix, Arizona. “In addition to the teaching responsibilities, I look forward to immersing myself in the culture, lazing around cafés and taking long strolls.”

Gale will be based in Amiens, France.

Sarpong, a French major with minors in political science and chemistry, was involved in Wabash Christian Men, the African Students Association, and the Indoor Soccer Group. Previously, he studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, during the Fall 2021 semester, and in in the Spring of 2019, took an immersion trip to Paris and Caen, France, with Dr. Karen Quandt’s “Heroic Exploits in Normandy” class. He earned the Annie Crim Leavenworth French Prize, the David W. Peck Medal, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

“I’m excited to be going back,” said Sarpong, a native of Suffolk, Virginia. “I had such a great time when I was in France last semester and on my immersion trip in 2019. I learned a lot about life and made many great friends, and I look forward to the adventure that lies ahead with TAPIF.”

Sarpong will be based in the Montpellier region in southern France.

A history major with a Black studies minor, Breaux is co-president of ‘shOUT, a member of the Malcolm X Institute

for Black Studies, where he serves as Alumni Committee chair, writes for The Bachelor, is a Democracy Fellow for the Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse initiative, and participates in the Wabash Liberal Arts Immersion Program.

“It's an honor to be selected for the Gilman Scholarship,” said Breaux, a native of Houston, Texas. “Earning this award means that I'm able to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad in Amsterdam and grow as a student, leader, and global citizen. More than anything else, I am looking forward to meeting new people from different backgrounds, expanding my worldview, and becoming a more well-rounded individual.”

Breaux will be based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

A history major with a minor in Film and Digital Media, Monninger leads the social media efforts for the International

Center and is looking forward to his experience abroad.

“I am grateful for this opportunity and the funding entrusted to me by the Gilman Program and intend to make the most of it,” said Monninger, a native of Fishers, Indiana. “I look forward to exploring and documenting the history, architecture, art, and culture of Paris and, perhaps, other locations in continental Europe. Through my study program and the experience of living in Paris, I hope to learn more about the history and to improve my photography and filmmaking skills.”

Monninger will be based in Paris, France.

A Spanish major with minors in French and education studies, Peare is a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and participates in College Mentors for Kids, Wamidan, and the Wabash Pep Band. Previously, he studied abroad in Oviedo, Spain, while in high school.

“It is an honor to receive the Gilman Scholarship,” said Peare, a native of Huntington, Indiana. “This scholarship relieves a great financial burden and will allow me the flexibility to engage in more activities while abroad. I am most excited to walk the Camino de Santiago while in Spain.”

Peare will be based in Valencia, Spain.

The Teaching Assistant Program in France offers the opportunity to work in France for seven months, teaching English to French students of all ages. Each year, over 1,500 American citizens and permanent residents teach in public schools across all regions of metropolitan France and in the overseas departments of France like French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion. The American cohort is part of the larger Assistants de langue en France program, which recruits 4,500 young educators from 60 countries to teach 15 languages annually in France.

Run by the Institute of International Education, the purpose of the Gilman International Scholarship program is to encourage participation in study abroad programs, particularly for under-represented students and 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 83 highly competitive fellowships. The list includes a Rhodes Scholarship, a Truman Scholarship, two NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, one Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship, one APSA Minority Fellowship, 26 Fulbright recipients, 25 Gilman Scholarship recipients, 11 USTA fellowship recipients, seven North American Language and Culture Assistantships in Spain, six TAPIF English Teaching Assistantships (France), one Freeman-ASIA Scholarship, and one JET recipient.