Five Honors College students, alumna nominated for graduate school scholarships

Michigan State University has nominated five undergraduate students and one recent alumna for three nationally competitive graduate school scholarships: the Marshall Scholarship, the Mitchell Scholarship and the Rhodes Scholarship. All of the scholarships support students attending graduate school in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

The MSU nominees for the Marshall Scholarship are:

• Julia Christensen, an Honors College senior majoring in international relations in James Madison College
• Celia Hallan, an Honors College senior majoring in international relations in the James Madison College and environmental geography in the College of Social Science
• Clara Lepard, an Honors College alumna who earned a degree in zoology in 2017 from the College of Natural Science
• Abigail Shotwell, an Honors College senior majoring in microbiology in Lyman Briggs College
• Alexandra Stano, an Honors College senior majoring in comparative cultures and politics in James Madison College and Spanish in the College of Arts & Letters

Christensen, Hallan and Anna Cumming, an Honors College senior majoring in history and political science in the College of Social Science, have been nominated for the Mitchell Scholarship.

Cumming and Lepard have also been nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship.

“During their time at MSU, these students have pursued rigorous coursework and co-curricular opportunities tailored to their individual interests,” said Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the Honors College. “MSU is proud to nominate these talented individuals for these nationally competitive awards.”

MSU has produced 18 Marshall Scholars, 17 Rhodes Scholars and three Mitchell Scholars.

The Marshall Commission provides support to approximately 40 of the most outstanding undergraduates in the country to study at any university in the United Kingdom.

The U.S.-Ireland Alliance established the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program, which allows up to 12 future American leaders to pursue a year of graduate study in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Rhodes Trust, the oldest of the major international competitive award foundations, provides 32 of the most outstanding undergraduates in the country an opportunity to study at the University of Oxford in England.