A commitment to preparation combined with a long-serving adviser propelled one HBCU to become the all-time leader in producing Black Fulbright students.
Which historically Black college or university has produced the most students to receive a prestigious Fulbright award? Howard? Hampton? Morehouse? Spelman?
Guess again. The all-time leader in Fulbright Student awards is not an elite private school, but a public university whose performance in landing students in the international exchange program may surprise many in higher education: Morgan State University.
Yes, Morgan State. The public university in Baltimore has produced more Fulbright Students than any other HBCU, according to the U.S. Department of State, which sponsors the program. Morgan State puts its current total at 120. It sent its first Fulbright Student abroad in 1951, five years after the international exchange of students and scholars began as a way to promote international understanding. A “Fulbright Student” is either a senior who just graduated, or a graduate student. A “Fulbright Scholar” is either a faculty member or, less commonly, a professional.
The university has been racking up Fulbright Student awards ever since, thanks largely to the late Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre II. He was the university’s first Fulbright Scholar and returned to serve as campus adviser to student applicants for 55 years, continuing in that role for almost two decades after he retired from teaching in 1988.
The Department of State has recognized McIntyre, who died in 2006, as the longestserving Fulbright adviser at any American college and as the person behind Morgan State’s success. “During his historic tenure, for more than a half century, Morgan State University students received more Fulbright awards, by far, than any other historically Black college or university in the nation,” wrote Thomas Farrell, deputy assistant secretary of state for academic programs, in a 2006 letter to Morgan State President Earl S. Richardson.
