Washington College Magazine
Senior Wins Scholarship
Astra Haldeman '07
Astra Haldeman '07, an art and anthropology major from Florence, NJ, has been awarded one of 16 Ambassadorial Scholarships sponsored by Rotary International for study abroad in 2007-2008. Haldeman was sponsored by the Chestertown Rotary Club and selected by District 7630. The scholarship, valued at $26,000, will provide funding to help cover round-trip transportation, tuition, fees, room and board expenses and educational supplies for one year of postgraduate study.
Haldeman is interested in objects and the stories they tell about our past. As a member of the Cater Society of Junior Fellows, she studied ethnomusicology in Peru. She is writing her senior thesis on images of the turtle—a broad-based, cross-cultural investigation incorporating her interests in anthropology and art.
The Rotary Scholarship will enable her to combine those interests with the study of display and preservation of cultural artifacts as she pursues museum studies in New Zealand.
Donald McColl, associate professor of art, describes Halderman as a wonderful student and civic activist who "cares so much about the world and diverse perspectives."
Her commitment to community service fit well with the scholarship program's objectives, Rotary representatives said. Haldeman has volunteered with Chestertown's Sultana Project and Habitat for Humanity. She is also active with the College's Student Environmental Alliance and Service Council. In her hometown, she was a member of the town's landfill committee and a citizens environmental group, and a licensed sailing instructor at the Delaware River Sailing School.
The Ambassadorial Scholarship program offered by the Rotary Foundation of International is the world's largest privately funded international scholarships program for university-level studies. In addition to Haldeman, the Chestertown Rotary Club has helped three other local students expand their horizons through graduate study abroad during the past decade, including two Washington College graduates—Jennifer Reddish in 1996-1997 and Jennifer Dougherty in 1997-1998.
300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620 | 410-778-2800 | 800-422-1782