UMass Boston Students Become Fulbright Recipient and Finalist

By Melissa Fassel

Ask Monica McAlpine, director of the University Honors Program and professor of English, about Fulbright recipient Michael Plante and finalist Ben Day, and she’ll fondly describe both of them as “very modest people who have received well-deserved affirmation of their hard work and commitment to social justice.”

“We are so excited about their accomplishments,” says Chancellor Gora. “Their achievements speak to the quality and incredible motivation of our students.”

Plante is one of ten undergraduate students across the country who will visit Japan on a Fulbright fellowship. He says he’s always wanted to travel abroad and views this as the perfect opportunity. An economics major and member of the University Honors Program, Plante boasts a GPA of 3.97. In each of the past two years, he received the Rick Pitino Presidential Medal Scholarship, and he was awarded the Robert H. Spaethling Prize for Distinction in the Honors Program last year.

Plante says he’s “really excited about winning the Fulbright, especially given its extremely competitive nature.” Out of 100 applications for study in Japan, 25 awards were given. However, only 10 of these awards were set aside for graduating undergraduate seniors; the remaining 15 went to graduate students. In order to qualify for such an honor, one must possess an exceptional level of language fluency, especially in conversation. Plante has completed all five courses the campus offers in Japanese language and literature, even going beyond such standard courses by performing an independent study in Japanese. Also serving as president of the Japanese Club, Plante brought the Consul General of Japan in Boston to UMass Boston for a lecture and conversation with students. He has also worked in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for the past four years and is “much beloved” there.

Ben Day, a double major in political science and philosophy, has applied and is a finalist for the Fulbright fellowship in the United Kingdom, and will graduate summa cum laude this May. The UK Fulbright is particularly competitive, as out of approximately 525 applicants, only 20 are selected, with a mix of both graduate and undergraduate students. As one out of about 40 finalists, Day currently has a one-in-two chance of receiving the fellowship.

No stranger to academic achievement, Day has received the Knapp Scholarship in political science three times, and has been given a leadership award for his extensive involvement with the Radical Student Alliance and the campus Human Rights Group. Day was also a finalist for the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, and though he did not receive either scholarship, describes his presence in the pool of elite applicants as an honor.

Day’s interest in activism is reflected in his academic work. He is seeking honors in political science for his thesis on John Stuart Mill, a leader in nineteenth century British radicalism. He will find out whether he has won the Fulbright in early April.

In two years of competition, almost every UMass Boston student who has applied for a major scholarship, such as the Rhodes, Fulbright, or Marshall, has reached the semi-finals or finals in the scholarship competition. Three out of six students have received Fulbrights, with Day being a possible fourth.

Images:

Top Right: Michael Plante, an economics major, will travel to Japan with a Fulbright fellowship to study Japanese economic philosophy.

Bottom Left: Ben Day, a double major in political science and philosophy, is a finalist for a Fulbright fellowship to the United Kingdom. (Photos by Harry Brett)

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