Before coming to Yale, Chesa Boudin ’03 and Kristina Weaver ’03 lived in Guatemala and west Africa, respectively. Next year they will both add England to their lists.
Boudin and Weaver plan to spend the next two years studying in England as Marshall Scholars. The scholarship, awarded to 40 American students each year, funds two years of education in the United Kingdom.
The British government provides the Marshall Scholarship to commemorate American involvement in World War II and promote diplomatic links between the two nations. It is one of two major scholarships for study in the United Kingdom announced this month. The other, the Rhodes Scholarship, will be announced later this month, said Mark Bauer, assistant director of International Education and Fellowship Programs.
Bauer said other Yalies may receive Marshall scholarships if Weaver and Boudin win other fellowships. Because of this, the Marshall Scholarship committee will not make its official announcement until Dec. 9.
Chicago native Boudin, a Phi Beta Kappa member, plans to attend Oxford’s Development Studies program. A history major, Boudin has been involved in the Student Legal Action Movement and the Yale Coalition for Peace.
Boudin said his main interest lies in Latin American studies. He spent his junior year at the Universidad de Chile and spent several months in Guatemala during high school.
“I’m hoping the program will give me more direction,” Boudin said. “I’m assuming I’m going to do some work with international law, diplomacy or development — I’m hoping this program will give me a sense of the tangible ways that I can make an impact.”
Weaver, who is from Virginia, will spend one year at Cambridge University and another at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Weaver plans to study anthropology at both schools.
Weaver established the Anti-Racism Group at Yale and has also been involved in campaigns for sweatshop reform and labor issues.
Weaver said she is particularly interested in Africa, where she lived while growing up.
“I have a strong interest in post-colonial Africa, and European and American presence in Africa, and colonial history,” Weaver said.
Though both Weaver and Boudin have been involved in social justice groups and lived abroad, Bauer said there is no formula for Marshall Scholarship winners.
“That’s what’s so exciting and frustrating about the Marshall at the same time: there is no recipe,” Bauer said. “The Marshall has the reputation of being the most scholarly award of its kind but not just for people who have a narrow academic vision but people who are doing really exciting work. There are all kinds of ways to fulfill those qualities.”
At Yale, applicants are screened by a faculty committee, which endorses about 30 candidates. Bauer said about 40 students applied for endorsement this year.
IEFP Director Barbara Rowe said Yale officials are pleased with the selections.
“We are always pleased when we have winners and we’re always pleased when we have finalists,” said Rowe. “The students that apply for the Marshall are all so incredible — our two winners are really outstanding, but some others who didn’t win are too.”