Two VCU students, one alum selected for prestigious Critical Language Scholarship
Three Virginia Commonwealth University students and one alum have been recognized – three selected, one named alternate – by the highly-competitive Critical Language Scholarship and CLS Spark Program, which will allow them to study languages abroad with the goal of helping improve U.S. diplomatic relationships.
The three CLS and CLS Spark finalists from VCU are:
- Rebecca Gunnin, a student in the Honors College who will graduate in 2024 with a bachelor’s in biology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, will be studying Chinese through CLS Spark.
- Ryan Jackson, a student in the Honors College who will graduate in 2026 with a bachelor’s in political science from the College of Humanities and Sciences, will be studying Russian.
- Aashima Sagar, a VCU and Honors College alumna with a bachelor’s in biology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, will be studying Urdu in India.
The CLS Spark alternate from VCU is:
- Viet Nguyen, a student in the Honors College who will graduate in 2027 with a bachelor’s in biology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, applied to study Chinese through CLS Spark.
Around 500 finalists were selected from a diverse pool of over 5,000 applicants from U.S. colleges and universities in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
CLS and CLS Spark are funded by the U.S. Department of State for the study of 13 languages deemed critical to U.S. diplomatic and national security interests. CLS recipients will spend the summer abroad intensively studying their target language in an immersive setting.
CLS Spark provides students the opportunity to study critical languages virtually when they may not have access to studying these languages on their campuses. Participants will spend the summer learning beginner Arabic, Chinese or Russian through online classes and activities facilitated by native speakers at a host institution abroad.
VCU’s National Scholarship Office, which is housed in the VCU Honors College, assists all VCU students and recent alumni with the application process for the Critical Language Scholarship and other esteemed awards.
You can view a recording of a previous CLS information session here.
To learn more about other external funding opportunities, schedule an appointment with a member of the NSO staff.
Categories Critical Language Scholarship