Wabash College student Jermiah Lancaster ’26 has earned a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad.
Lancaster earned his scholarship to study in Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic, for this international experience. Thirty Wabash students now have earned Gilman Scholarships since 2016.
“I almost gave up on studying abroad due to the potential costs, but after thinking about the opportunities and how helpful a semester of studying abroad would be for my personal goals, I decided to act,” said Lancaster. “From the days of crafting each essay along with the help of Susan Albrecht’s supportive comments to hearing that I’m a winner of the Gilman Scholarship, I feel excited and accomplished. I look forward to the cultural exchange with the people I meet in the Dominican Republic, taking all of my classes in Spanish, and learning more about how the language is used in daily life.”
A Spanish major and economics minor from Gary, Indiana, Lancaster is a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and La Alianza, the Wabash student organization dedicated to celebrating Latin American culture.
Previously, he traveled to Spain in May 2024 as part of an immersion learning experience as part of his Spanish 211 class, “The Camino de Santiago.”
“Jermiah is a gifted language learner with a natural aptitude for recognizing grammatical patterns and an ear for dialect differences,” said Jane Hardy, senior associate dean and associate professor of Spanish. “He goes above and beyond class assignments by seeking out language input in settings outside the classroom. As a result, his Spanish skills have improved tremendously in the past two and a half years. I am thrilled that he has been awarded a Gilman scholarship, which will enable him to fully immerse himself in Dominican culture and Spanish, and to take courses focused on Caribbean culture and literature that are not normally available at Wabash.”
Supported by the U.S. Congress, the Gilman Scholarship is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is aided in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The purpose of the Gilman International Scholarship program is to encourage participation in study abroad programs for under-represented students, particularly those who are studying in under-represented areas of the world and/or under-represented languages.
The IIE seeks to support a cohort of U.S. students studying abroad which reflects the true diversity of the nation. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages, and economies, making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.
“JJ was a joy to work with,” said Albrecht, Wabash College Fellowship Advisor. “He made an excellent case for himself by showing that he had thought long and hard about the best place to study abroad. JJ had realized several years ago that he has a love for the particular Dominican way of speaking, as well as for the music and culture of the island. It’s easy to get excited on behalf of a student who you know is going to make the most of his study abroad experience.”
Lancaster adds to the many Wabash men who have earned highly competitive fellowships in the last decade, including the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Obama Voyager, Yenching, Goldwater, and Point Foundation Flagship Scholarships. Additionally, Wabash students have earned the Center for the Study of Presidency and Congress’ Presidential Fellowship, U.K. Fulbright Summer Institute placement, and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, to go with 28 Fulbrights and 30 Gilman Scholarships.
With Lancaster’s selection, Wabash now has a Gilman selection rate that exceeds 60%.