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SALISBURY, MD---¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ student Chase Alexander is going to the Middle East this summer to study Arabic on a Project Global Officer (Project GO) Scholarship.

“I hope to gain a heightened sense of cultural competency, improved language skills and a new perspective on international affairs,” said Alexander, a sophomore history and French double major from Gaithersburg, MD. He also is a member of SU’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. 

A Department of Defense initiative, Project GO provides scholarships to ROTC students to study critical languages domestically and abroad. It aims to improve the communication skills and regional expertise of future military officers.

Through a University of Kentucky Project GO program, Alexander will study Arabic at the Qasid Institute in Amman, Jordan.

“I have an interest in Middle Eastern culture and a desire to further develop my Arabic language skills in order to better serve my nation and community,” he said. 

He will continue his Arabic studies in the fall in Morocco as one of four SU students to win prestigious Boren Scholarships. After graduation, he plans to be commissioned into the U.S. Army as a Counterintelligence Officer.

“I hope to provide coordination and participation in counterintelligence investigations, operations and production,” he said. “A better understanding of Arabic could be vital when potentially working with and leading members of these environments as I serve our nation’s military both home and abroad.”

Project GO scholarships are sponsored by the Defense Language and National Security Education Office and administered by the Institute of International Education. They cover tuition and fees, room and board, travel and books. The program focuses on the languages and countries of the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America.

“To the best of my knowledge, Chase is our first winner,” said Dr. Kristen Walton, director of SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office.

Alexander credits Walton, as well as Drs. Sally Perret of the Modern Languages Department and Emin Lelic of the History Department, with mentoring him.

More than 40 SU students have won national and international fellowships, scholarships and awards in the past five years. SU also has been recognized as a Military Friendly School since 2009.

For information on applying for such opportunities, SU students or alumni may email Walton at kpwalton@salisbury.edu or visit www.salisbury.edu/nationalfellowships.