Alma's First JKC Scholar To Study at Oxford
For Will Allen, it’s Oxford or bust.
Allen, a 2009 graduate of Alma College from Unionville, is heading to Oxford University in England as the result of being one of 30 scholars from around the world selected to receive the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship.
Allen was selected from a pool of approximately 650 applicants nominated for the 2009 award, which recognizes high-achieving lower-income students. The scholarship provides up to $50,000 for educational and living expenses per year for up to six years of graduate study.
Will Allen receives the Barlow Trophy from Alma College President Saundra Tracy.
At Oxford, Allen will pursue a master’s degree at Queen Elizabeth House, where he will focus his research and studies on connecting immigration with local development.
“My career goal is to work for an organization like the International Labour Organization, conducting field research to ascertain migrants' working and living conditions,” says Allen. “Later, as a consultant or senior adviser, I hope to use this kind of experience to formulate labor and immigration policies that more accurately reflect the lived realities of local citizens.
“Oxford’s Queen Elizabeth House is one of the few departments prepared to specifically research migration and globalization,” he says. “My research includes two areas — connecting immigration with development, and enabling local citizens to understand and harness these connections for their own uses.”
At Alma, Allen was the 2009 winner of the Barlow Trophy, Alma’s most prestigious academic award for a graduating senior. He conducted international research, including traveling to Ecuador as part of a Spring Term course; assisting the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, a school for disadvantaged girls in Juarez, Mexico; and serving as a student representative and session leader for the Common Table Project, a bi-national effort to explore and address environmental pressures on indigenous Tarahumaran farmers in Mexico.
“I am humbled to represent Alma College as its first JKC Scholar,” says Allen. “I am thankful for the exceptional opportunities I had for international research and for the personal mentoring by faculty members Ed Lorenz, Murray Borrello and Derick Hulme. There’s a unique sense of community found among faculty, students, and staff at Alma that motivates me to give back and represent Alma as best I can.”
Allen is a graduate of Valley Lutheran High School in Saginaw. He is the son of Rev. Michael and Lynda Allen.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has awarded nearly 400 Graduate Scholarships since the inception of the program. A review panel of distinguished faculty and university admissions officers judges the nominees using criteria including academic achievement, financial need, will to succeed, demonstrated leadership and public service, critical thinking ability, and appreciation of the arts and humanities.
Established in 2000, the Foundation is dedicated to “helping young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education.” With an endowment of $700 million, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is one of the 100 largest private foundations in the United States.
Posted: Mon, June 29th, 2009 at 9:35AM
