Six Colorado College students have been selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which allows them to study or intern in one of 91 countries through April 2023. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the scholarship was awarded to nearly 3,000 U.S. undergraduate students in the March 2022 application cycle.
Denise Geronimo ’24 received a $5,000 award to support her work as a research analytic intern with the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies in Belgrade, Serbia. The international political economy major hails from Memphis, Tennessee. At Colorado College, she’s an issue organizer for the Criminal Justice Coalition and Bonner Fellow. She works with the Collaborative for Community Engagement and other organizations to advocate for justice reform in Colorado Springs, including the Prison Project at Colorado College. She’s a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and her hobbies include biking and kickboxing.
Elena Gober ’24 is an environmental science major from Silverton, Colorado. Gober is a programmatic volunteer for the Food Team at CC’s Office of Sustainability and works as a coordinator for the CC Arts and Crafts Program. She plans to use her $4,000 award to study ice cores and ice ages in Denmark with a field week on the Greenland ice sheet. Her hobbies include skiing, rollerblading, and reading books about the environment in her free time.
John Le ’24 will study the German language and culture in Berlin, Germany, with the support of a $5,000 award. Le is from Garden Grove, California. Le majors in mathematics and physics and minors in German studies. As an active campus community member, his many roles include admission ambassador, Bridge Scholars Program peer mentor, co-chair of the Asian Student Union, and QuestBridge chapter president. Additionally, he is a youth leader at the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement chapter in Denver. Le will be a part of the Colorado College in Berlin program.
Andres Madrigal ’23 is from Seattle, Washington. His $3,500 award will allow him to study accelerated Portuguese and Afro-Brazilian culture in Brazil or French philosophy in Paris. Madrigal majors in organismal biology and ecology and minors in Spanish, along with being on the pre-med track. He served as co-chair of the Native American Student Union and is a founding member and incoming president of Colorado College’s Fearless Phi Chapter of Psi Sigma Phi Multicultural Fraternity Inc. Aside from working as an admission fellow, Madrigal also plays vihuela and sings for CC’s Mariachi Tigre.
Sierra Moore ’23 is from Sartell, Minnesota. She loves being outdoors and hiking and enjoys working with plants and animals. She plans to use her $5,000 award in Ecuador as part of a hybrid arrangement, which the Gilman Program supports due to the pandemic.
Vicente Blas-Taijeron ’24 will study intersectionality through the lens of Afro-Germans, Jewish Germans, and other minorities in Berlin, Germany, supported by a $4,000 award. Blas-Taijeron hails from the village of Tamuning on the island of Guam. He is majoring in feminist and gender studies with a minor in race, ethnicity, and migration studies, and is on the pre-law track. He serves on the CC Student Government Association as a diversity, equity, and inclusion lead, is a spiral fellow for the Chaplain’s Office, and is the student trustee-elect. Blas-Taijeron is an activist for indigenous rights and enjoys reading, watching Netflix, and cooking.
Gilman Scholars hail from 536 U.S. colleges and represent 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 34,000 Gilman Scholars have studied or interned in more than 155 countries around the globe.