16 ECSU Scholars Awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Funding to Travel Abroad

Sixteen Elizabeth City State University students have been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and will travel abroad in 2023. Scholarship funding totals $70,000 for students traveling throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Gilman Scholarship is a program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and was designed to offer students the opportunity to study abroad by removing cost barriers. Students eligible for the scholarship must be Federal Pell Grant recipients during the term of their study abroad program or internship. 

ECSU’s most recent recipients are: Amya Bell ‘25; Leslie Billotte ‘25; Carlos Criss ‘25; Trila Diallo-Carson ‘26; Kayla Dixon ‘25; Jasmine Holmes ‘25, Zachary Matthews ‘25, Joyce Nyakana ’25; and Abraham Reid.’25.

The university’s October 2022 awardees are: Taylor Bethel ’26; Heaven Brown ’23; Courtney Glover ’24; Kevaun Reid ’24; Trinitee Smith ’25; Zoie Smith ’24; and Shadara Stevenson ‘24.

“We believe the Office of International Programs has created a model that assists with ensuring (student) success,” said Andre Stevenson, Ph.D., program director and ECSU professor of Social Work.

“Much credit also belongs to our inaugural student ambassadors and Gilman alumni who actively recruited applicants and assisted with ensuring their essays were competitive,” he said.   In 2021 and 2022, ECSU students were also awarded Gilman scholarships. Financial awards – meant to cover program costs as well as financial need – range from $3,000 to $8,000. Between Spring 2023 and Spring 2024, 31 ECSU students within the Office of International Programs are scheduled to travel abroad. Not all of them are scholarship recipients; however, the department funds their trips using other resources, including financial aid.  

Some scholarship recipients have already begun their travels. The students’ trips net them professional and personal growth.   

 “The study abroad experience enhances employability and helps students build a global network of friends, mentors and professionals,” said Kim Scott, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Office of International Programs and ECSU management and entrepreneurship assistant professor.