University of New Orleans graduate student Wallace “Scout” Serpas has received a 2022 Fulbright U.S. Student Program award from the U.S. State Department and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected in an open, merit-based competition that considers leadership potential, academic, professional achievement and a record of service. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

Serpas, a student in the master's program in Romance Languages, will serve as an English teaching assistant in Colombia for the 2022-2023 academic year.

“I’m beyond excited to head to Colombia and represent the United States while teaching English as a second language,” said Serpas, who is a Spanish teacher at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. “Teaching has truly opened some unique doors for me, and I hope to take advantage of this Fulbright opportunity by promoting positive language and cultural exchanges.

“I’d like to thank my professors at UNO for supporting me throughout my MA program and providing me with the knowledge and skills I’ll use in Colombia.”

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright alumni include 61 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients and 40 who have served as a head of state or government.