BUFFALO, NY – Canisius student Caitlin Orgek ᾿18 is the college’s most recent recipient of a J. William Fulbright Scholarship for 2018-19.
The J. William Fulbright Scholarship is named for Senator J. William Fulbright and is the U.S Government’s premier scholarship program. It is designed to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, which provide recipients with tuition, fees, travel and research funds for a full year.
Orgek is a senior international relations, German, history and European studies quadruple major in the All-College Honors Program.
Orgek will use her Fulbright to work as an English teaching assistant at a school in Germany. She will also volunteer at a local refugee resettlement agency. Orgek wants to learn how Germany is handling the refugee and migrant situation beyond language education.
“My upcoming experiences in Germany, with the opportunities to witness the ways Germans accommodate their new residents, will allow me to gain important skills in regards to resettlement and build connections across communities,” said Orgek. “This expertise could be utilized in the United States to improve not only individual living standards but communities as a whole.”
Orgek is co-president of the Canisius chapter of Delta Phi Alpha, the National German Honor Society. She volunteers for the WEDI ENERGY, an afterschool reading program for refugee children. Orgek previously interned at the International Institute of Buffalo in the Language Services Department. During spring semester 2017, she studied abroad at the Technische Universität, Dortmund.
Christopher R. Lee, PhD, associate professor of religious studies and theology, served as Orgek’s mentor during the application process. Upon her return to the United States, she plans to obtain her master’s degree in education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification.
Canisius University is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
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