7 UConn Students Named Gilman Scholars

STORRS, CT — Seven University of Connecticut students have been awarded the prestigious Gilman Scholarship, an academic award congressionally funded through the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs at the State Department.

The scholarship supports broadening student participation in study abroad programs and encourages travel to diverse locations around the globe, along with intensive language study and internship experiences, UConn officials said.

Eligibility for the Gilman Scholarship requires undergraduate students to be Pell Grant-eligible, United States citizens who plan to study abroad for academic credit through a program approved by their home institution. Supporting students with high financial need provides access to students who are historically underrepresented in study abroad, including first-generation college students, STEM majors, ethnic and racial minority students, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, and others who experience barriers to participation.

Students from underrepresented areas of the U.S. are also considered during the application process and this year there are recipients from all 50 states.

The following UConn students were selected as Gilman Scholars in the latest cycle and they are listed with the location of where they will study as part of the program:

• Andrew Change, 2025 (ENG): a mechanical engineering major, who will study at Korea University in Seoul in the spring of 2024. Change also received a Critical Need Language Award, which is given to selected recipients who are studying in a location where a critical need language is spoken – Korean in the case of Change. There are only 90 of the awards given nationally.
• Michelle Eweka, 2025 (CLAS), a political science and humanities major, who will study at the University of Granada in Spain in the summer of 2024. Her sister Victoria Amy Eweka, 2024 (CLAS) is currently studying at the University of Konstanz in Germany on a Gilman Scholarship.
• Moera Kamimura, 2025 (ENG), a mechanical engineering major from Stamford, who will study at Waseda University in Tokyo in the spring 2024 semester.
• Avery Lyn Sparks, 2025 (CLAS), a psychology major with a political science minor from East Haddam, who will study at the International Studies Institute in Florence, Italy, in the spring 2024 semester.
• Alexandra Torres Munoz, 2025 (CAHNR, CLAS), an allied health sciences and French double major with minors in Spanish, European studies, physiology, neurobiology, and literary translation, from Wallingford who will study at the University of Granada in Spain in the spring of 2024.
• Yanni Ysiranidies , 2025 (BUS), a finance major from Norwalk, who will study at Waseda University in Tokyo in the summer of 2024.
• Suki Zheng, 2025 (ENG), an environmental engineering major, who will study at Korea University in Seoul in the spring of 2024.