Fellowship office not vocal enough

With over 6,500 undergraduates attending Georgetown University, the fact that the office of the Fellowship Secretary advises only fifteen students annually, according to Dr. John Glavin, is unacceptable. The university offers aid and direction to its students for fifteen distinct fellowships, including the Rhodes, Fulbright and Marshall grants as well as lesser-known awards. With only fifteen students utilizing the services of the office, however, it is not possible for Georgetown's true academic aptitude to be accurately reflected in the number of fellowships awarded to its students.

While the office has made admirable progress since its creation in the early 1980s to increase the number of fellowship winners at this university, it has not done an adequate job of informing students of the services it offers. If Glavin's office would be more proactive in encouraging Georgetown's top students to investigate the fellowships' application processes, the university would produce more recipients. There are far more than fifteen qualified and eligible students in any given year to whom applying for fellowships may appeal. If Glavin's office were less remote and more vocal, student participation would increse.

The Independent feels it is in Georgetown's interests to produce as many fellowship recipients as possible, a major factor in the decision to cover the topic in this month's issue. The more students who know about the available programs, the better. If the fellowship office feels the same way, it should redouble its efforts to make its services known to the university community.