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Health & Fitness

The Sequester Threatens the Fulbright Exchange Program

The sequester to the federal budget threatens the State Department-funded Fulbright program. American Fulbright students currently based in Russia voice their opposition to potential cuts.

The sequester budget cuts threaten the Fulbright program, which is funded by the State Department. Although it is not yet clear how the State Department will manage the $2.6 billion in cuts, the Fulbright program is vulnerable. Here is a letter we, current Fulbright students in Russia, drafted to express our opposition to potential cuts.

 

President Obama and Members of Congress,

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On behalf of the American Fulbright students teaching and researching in Russia, we urge you to rethink the dramatic cuts to State Department programs that could come into effect on March 1. Secretary of State Kerry warned that he would be forced to “reduce our participation in international education and cultural programs.” The Fulbright program is an international exchange program that provided us with the opportunity to teach English to willing students and to conduct research projects all across Russia. Since the program’s inception in 1946, tens of thousands of American and foreign students, scholars, and scientists have exchanged ideas and contributed to finding solutions to shared international concerns in a bidirectional exchange. Please preserve the program for future students to meet Senator Fulbright’s challenge “to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy, and perception” through international education.

Sincerely,

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