Indiana University Bloomington continues to be a national leader in preparing students for careers critical to U.S. national security and international engagement as a top-producing institution for the Boren Awards.
The Boren Scholarships, an undergraduate program supported by the Department of State and Department of Defense, are designed to increase the number of qualified fluent speakers of languages deemed critical to national security. IU Bloomington has been named a top producer for the third consecutive year and is tied for second in the nation.
“Indiana University’s leadership in both critical language instruction and education abroad is a core contributor to our students’ success,” said Jennifer Engel, IU associate vice president for Education Abroad. “Our continued dominance in this area shows how powerful collaborative mentorship between academic departments and administrative offices can be for our students.”
“Boren is more than just a scholarship; it’s a chance to take what I’ve learned and put it into practice through language, technology and service,” said Layaan Hajiyev, a student in the Cybersecurity and Global Policy Program — a joint degree program between the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering — who will be going to Kazakhstan next year.
Hajiyev chose to study Russian at IU explicitly because it is one of the few universities in the country that offers both a nationally recognized Language Flagship and expertise in the field of cybersecurity. An initiative launched in 2002 by the Department of Defense, the Language Flagship program addresses a critical national security need by developing students’ regional expertise and language fluency by graduation. Indiana University is one of only 14 institutions that have been granted Language Flagship status.
IU Bloomington’s strength in language learning — offering more Language Flagships than any other university in the United States — drew many of the Boren Scholarship awardees to IU. Alyssa McDermott, an awardee headed to Taiwan, had strong language programs at the top of her mind when choosing universities. Growing up as a child of military parents, McDermott did not always have consistent access to specific languages during secondary school.
“I knew that learning and using Chinese was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she said. “I diligently researched many schools with that condition — having an amazing Chinese program — and that’s how I found out about IU.
“As someone interested in working in the federal government, the government service requirement opens new doors for me professionally.”
A key condition of the award is the agreement to serve as a federal employee upon graduation, something that many applicants had in mind throughout the process.
“Receiving the Boren Award allows me to pursue my goals of working as a public service officer in the State Department,” said Dawson Lipperd, a student worker for the IU Center for the Study of Global Change who will spend the next academic year in Kazakhstan. “It is a jumping-off point for me in my life to be able to achieve my goals.”
Part of Indiana University’s unusually high acceptance rate is credited to the support structures within the university’s Hamilton Lugar School, Hutton Honors College, Office of National Scholarships and Education Abroad.
“IU gave me everything I needed to feel confident throughout the Boren application process,” Hajiyev said. “The mentorship and structure IU provides really made all the difference.”
Among the Hamilton Lugar School students is Marilyn King, whose familial connection to the Russian language inspired her to sign up for the Flagship program while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
“Winning a Boren Award feels so surreal,” she said. “The odds were against me, and I knew it would be difficult to write a convincing case as to how, or even why, a graphic designer should be deserving of a Boren Award.
“I am a first-generation college student, and the most valuable lessons I have ever learned in life were in the classroom. Education is a privilege, and I am so grateful for everyone who has pushed me to this point in my life. It is truly an honor.”
