Top National Scholarships Awarded to Four Students at The Citadel

CHARLESTON, SC – May 5, 2014 – As the 2013-14 academic year comes to a close, students from The Citadel are making global plans for their continued work and study.  Three members of the S. C. Corps of Cadets and one veteran day student were recently named winners of prestigious national scholarships to study or work abroad—two earned a Fulbright Award and two were named National Security Education Program Boren Scholars.

Cadet Matthew Bernard of Orange Park, Fla., who graduates this month, was named a Fulbright Scholar to teach English in rural Malaysia.  Bernard attended The Citadel on a four-year Navy scholarship. He is a political science and history major, with a minor in Spanish.  He serves as vice chairman for investigations for the Honor Committee and the secretary for the college chapter of Toastmasters International. He plans to eventually attend flight school.

Cadet Donald Preston Hipps, a native of Pelion, S.C., will teach English in Mexico on a Fulbright Scholarship in the 2014-15 academic year.  Hipps, also graduates in May, is chairman of the Honor Committee and is a Citadel Scholar for academic achievement. He has been awarded Gold Stars for academic excellence every semester during his tenure at The Citadel.  He has also been the recipient of a number of other scholarships, including a Star of the West for summer study in 2011, 2012 and 2013.  Hipps plans to attend law school in the fall of 2015.  After being accepted to both Harvard and Yale law schools, he has decided to attend Harvard after completing his Fulbright assignment.

Cadet Erin Bucherl, a senior from Indianapolis will study Swahili and intern in a hospital in Zanzibar, Tanzania on a Boren Scholarship for the 2014-15 academic year.  Bucherl is majoring in biology and German and is a scholarship volleyball player.  She currently holds the rank of human affairs sergeant, and she is a two-time Star of the West Scholar for summer study in Germany in 2012 and 2013. She will return to attend The Citadel Graduate College in the biology program.

Elizabeth Stephenson, a veteran day student and a psychology major from Greenville, was awarded a Boren Scholarship to study Mandarin in China for six months.  Stephenson, a junior, is in the honors program.  She was formerly enlisted in the Air Force and will commission upon graduation.