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Ļć½¶Ö±²„graduateā€™s selection as John Lewis Civil Rights Fellow expands on national U.S. Student Fulbright win

Contact: Lexi Holdiness

STARKVILLE, Miss.ā€”A Mississippi State graduate from the College of Education is one of 29 inaugural Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows selected from students across the U.S.

Valencia Epps is the universityā€™s first recipient of the new fellowship and MSUā€™s 10th Fulbright U.S. Student program winner in the past six years. Passed through bipartisan legislation, the first cohort honors the late U.S. Rep. John Lewisā€™ leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.

The fellowship leverages educational and global opportunities to provide Fulbright U.S. students expanded access to promote studies, research and international exchange on nonviolent movements that establish and protect civil rights around the world.

Epps, a Stephen D. Lee Scholar and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member, will use her fellowship research to improve education inequities in rural South Korea by improving collaboration between Korean natives and expatriates. Her project addresses the gap in occupational well-being between male and female expatriate English teachers, ultimately contributing to the systematic change in South Korean English education programs.

ā€œWe are so proud of Valencia and happy to see her and her important work in South Korea recognized as part of the inaugural class of fellows,ā€ said Professor David Hoffman, interim director of MSUā€™s Office of Prestigious External Scholarships. ā€œYet again, Ļć½¶Ö±²„is competing at the highest levels and winning not only because of who our students are but also their commitment to making the lives and experiences of others better.ā€

Epps previously served as an afterschool English teacher in South Korea through the Teach and Learn in Korea program from 2018-2020 and earned her bachelorā€™s and masterā€™s degrees in elementary education from Ļć½¶Ö±²„in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

ā€œAs part of this John Lewis fellowship, I willĀ have the opportunity toĀ amplify the voices of expat English teachers in South Korea,ā€ Epps said. ā€œMy Fulbright project data will allow me to delve deeper into these topics to reach a wider audience.ā€

°Õ³ó±šĢżĀ is the U.S. governmentā€™s flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the U.S. and partner countries around the world. It is funded through an annual appropriation made by Congress to the U.S. Department of Stateā€™s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations across the world also provide direct and indirect program support.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more thanĀ 400,000Ā participants fromĀ overĀ 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideasĀ and contribute to finding solutions to sharedĀ internationalĀ concerns.

For additional information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, visitĀ .

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