Three College seniors have been awarded full scholarships to study in the United Kingdom for two years, University’s Development Officer Carole Clarke said Monday.
Kenneth Baer, Jessalynn Bird and Robert Klickovich were selected out of the original 40 applicants for the prestigious Thouron Award, a grant offered by a British family residing in suburban Philadelphia.
The scholarship is particularly unique since it is also offered to students in England for study at the University.
“Everybody feels a certain sense of family and continuity,” Clarke said.
And while the award is based at the University, it is a highly competitive scholarship, and one of the “most generous fellowships in the world,” according to the Office of Development.
Thouron winners are given the liberty to attend any school in England.
Baer, former editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian, expects to hear from Oxford and Cambridge Universities later this month. Baer said he would not have been able to continue his studies if it were not for the award. And the History major hopes to meet new challenges in England.
“This gives me an opportunity to explore some other interests,” he said.
Bird plans to study Medieval History at Oxford’s Queens College next year, and complete a degree by writing a thesis.
Klickovich also plans to attend Oxford.
The three candidates endured a “grueling” application process which lasted nearly an entire year.
“We submitted our resume, listing our activities and interests, we also wrote an essay which was equivalent to a statement of purpose, [and] we had to have at least three recommendations,” Bird said.
In keeping with the “family” aspect of the award, the Thouron family arranged a full day of interviews for the 16 finalists.
“It was supposed to be as non-threatening as possible,” she said.
Nonetheless, it was an exhaustive day — from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.
“Some people handled it with more finesse than others,” Bird said.
But despite the tight competition for the Thouron awards, “no one was out to get anybody,” according to Baer. The finalists also met Sir Thouron that day.
Clarke said most applicants must have a grade point average of at least 3.75, since the Thouron award guarantees only money, and not acceptance into a British college or university.
Many former Thouron Scholars have become well-known figures in their respective occupations.
The producer of the recent box-office hit “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the founder of a U.K. business school and three leading African American writers were Thouron winners, Clarke said.
Although all three Thouron Scholarship winners this year are from the College, three of the four scholars last year graduated from Wharton.
“Apparently they picked a pretty wide variety of people,” said Bird.
