Two W&L Students Awarded Gilman Scholarships to Study Abroad The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards of up to $5,000 to U.S. undergraduate students who are Pell Grant recipients.
AJ Cotto-Rivera ’28
Elizabeth Sawicki ’29
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program announced its first round of recipients for this academic year. Two students were accepted from Washington and Lee University.
AJ Cotto-Rivera ’28 will study modern art in Spain during Spring Term 2026, and Elizabeth Sawicki ’29 will study zoology and biology in New Zealand during Fall Term 2026.
Award recipients can study and intern abroad during the spring, summer, fall, winter or academic year term. Twenty W&L students were awarded the Gilman Scholarship during the 2024-2025 academic year, the university’s largest Gilman Scholar cohort.
“The Gilman Scholarship is such an important way to support students as they complete life-changing programs abroad,” said Matthew Loar, director of fellowships and student research. “We are proud of all of our applicants for the Gilman Scholarship this year, and we are so excited for AJ and Elizabeth as they take their educations overseas.”
AJ Cotto-Rivera ’28
An engineering major from Tacoma, Washington, Cotto-Rivera received the Gilman-McCain Scholarship, which provides funding for children of active duty or activated United States military personnel. With the award, he will study abroad for Spring Term 2026, spending three weeks in Spain with Professor of Art History Elliott King’s class, Modern Art in Barcelona: From Gaudí to Dalí. Cotto-Rivera is grateful for the opportunity to expand his horizons with the Gilman Scholarship, which can serve as a “stepping-stone” to more competitive scholarships. “I am excited about the prospect that success begets more success, and I have even more opportunities to go abroad with other scholarships in the future,” he said.
Elizabeth Sawicki ’29
Sawicki, a native of Phillipston, Massachusetts, intends to double major in biology and business administration. She will study zoology and biology at the University of Otago in New Zealand during Fall Term 2026 and looks forward to taking this next step in her path to becoming a veterinarian. Sawicki is also grateful for this first opportunity to travel outside of the United States and experience a new climate and culture. “Being awarded this opportunity has been a dream come true,” she said.
Since the inception of the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship Program in 2001, more than 44,000 scholarships have been awarded to students participating in study abroad programs and internships around the world.
The Gilman Scholarship Program, named for retired congressman Benjamin A. Gilman, seeks to diversify the kinds of students who study or intern abroad and the countries and regions they visit by offering up to $5,000 to U.S. undergraduate students who are Pell Grant recipients. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the Institute of International Education administers the program.
The deadline to apply for a Gilman Scholarship awarded in spring 2026 is March 5. Students interested in applying are encouraged to set up an appointment with W&L’s Office of Fellowships via Handshake.
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