Two Lafayette College students were awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for undergraduate STEM research, and five more won Fulbright Scholarships for international educational and cultural exchange opportunities, as of Thursday. One additional Fulbright research finalist is still awaiting notification of their selection.
Goldwater scholars
Jaly Chimbo Macancela ‘26 and Alex Yurtola ‘26 were awarded the Goldwater Scholarship for their academic achievements in STEM. The scholarship aims to further students’ education and success in STEM-based research for future Ph.D. candidates.
Yurtola, a chemistry major, said the Goldwater program will enhance his research on quorum sensing, which communicates and synchronizes bacteria’s behaviors.
“I feel like a little bit of an impostor,” Yurtola said. “But also I know that I’ve worked really hard to earn it, and there were a lot of really qualified people, and so getting it really means that I’ve earned it.”
The Goldwater Scholarship program received over 5,000 applicants — all sophomores and juniors in college from 445 academic institutions — according to the Barry Goldwater website. Of those who applied, 441 students received the $7,000 award.
Fulbright Scholars
Rylee Bordwick ’25, Ani Khachadourian ’25, Alexa Jindal ’25 and Olivia Puzio ’25 each won Fulbright scholarships allowing them to teach in countries such as Romania, Taiwan, the Czech Republic and Poland. Shreya Suresh ’25 won a Fulbright scholarship to pursue independent research in India, while Fulbright semifinalist Eva Mei Vogt ’25 had not heard back by the time of publication.
“I was in disbelief when I opened the letter from Fulbright because I had come to terms with it likely not happening due to the funding freeze,” Suresh wrote in a text, adding that she was “excited for what’s to come.”
The four winners were notified of their acceptance on Wednesday afternoon, and one was notified on Thursday morning, according to an email from Julia Goldberg, the associate dean of advising and co-curricular programs.
“I’m excited to share my passion for English, and just as eager to learn from my students’ interests and perspectives,” Jindal said. “I have my whole life to pursue medicine, but this is a unique opportunity to explore the world, connect with people from a different culture and build interpersonal skills that will help make me a better physician.”
“I had an itch to travel,” Bordwick said. “I feel since COVID, I’ve always wanted to get out, go places and do things, and I have an interest in language.”
Khachadourian and Jindal are both on the women’s soccer team and attributed their success in the application process and reason for applying to their time on the team.
“I think athletics has given us avenues to practice time management, perseverance and all these things that Fulbright is looking for when you’re living in a new country and facing obstacles,” Khachadourian said.
Suresh was inspired to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship following her semester abroad in India during her junior year.
“I wanted to look at task sharing, which involves training non specialized workers from the community who may not have global training for like education in mental health, but are still able to be trained in basic mental health skills,” Suresh said of the research she hoped to pursue, in an interview before her acceptance. “And it’s like a lot of psychological first aid so that they can increase access to mental health and education in their communities.”
Goldberg said that delays in the process occurred due to threats from the current presidential administration calling for an end to the program. She said alternates may have better chances because of any remaining uncertainty.
Bordwick, in an interview before her acceptance, described the Fulbright process as hearing “crickets,” since she was named a semi-finalist.
Vogt, Chimbo Macancela and Puzio could not be reached for comment.
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