W&L’s Janie Harrison Earns Fulbright to Spain Harrison looks forward to developing both her teaching and language skills with the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.

By Emily Innes Stanley
April 16, 2026

Washington and Lee University senior Janie Harrison ’26 has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to teach English in Spain. At W&L, Harrison is a history major with a minor in Spanish. Harrison is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and graduated from The Walker School.

The ETA program in Spain allows participants to assist teaching staff at the early childhood, elementary, middle school, high school, vocational or university levels. Responsibilities include teaching various subjects in the English language, directing conversation groups and leading school programs. Assistants are also encouraged to engage with their host community.

For Harrison, the ETA is a great opportunity to gain real classroom experience while developing her Spanish language skills.

“This is a wonderful step in my journey as a language learner and future educator,” Harrison said. “I am honored to be an ambassador of American culture and English language while building relationships with students and creating a community in Spain.”

Finding community has also been an important part of Harrison’s undergraduate experience, and she credits the special relationships she’s developed as having the biggest impact on her four years on campus. She met her best friends in the dorms and the dining hall, formed connections with professors during lectures and office hours, and gotten to know local students and families through her time as a tutor for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutor and volunteer at her church.

“I cherish all of these relationships and the school that gave them to me,” Harrison said.

Harrison is particularly grateful to Seth Michelson, associate professor of Spanish and head of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program, who taught the first Spanish class she took at W&L and introduced her to the importance of speaking and understanding other languages. Harrison also appreciates the support she has received from Mikki Brock, professor of history and department head, and Barton Myers, the Martin and Brook Stein Professor of History, who taught her how to research, analyze and debate while seeking to understand how the past has shaped our world today.

“Full of passion and brilliance for languages and cultures, Janie committed to Spanish-language study in her first term at W&L as one of my first-year advisees,” Michelson said. “From that deeply rooted commitment, she diligently built out an extensive course of study that took her across cultures, periods and borders until she flowered into a marvelous young scholar very much deserving the prestigious distinction of being named a Fulbright scholar to Spain.”

In addition to her work with ESOL, Harrison is involved with Reformed University Fellowship, Campus Community Coalition, the Outing Club and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and is a disc jockey for the WLUR, the university’s radio station.

With the Fulbright award, Harrison will depart in September 2026 for her nine-month program. Upon completion of the program, Harrison plans return to the United States and teach Spanish, history or social studies at an independent school in the Southeast.

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Washington and Lee University is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Students for the eighth consecutive year.

The Fulbright Program was established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. For more information, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org/. W&L students interested in applying for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program should contact Matthew Loar in the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning (Leyburn 114) or by email at mloar@wlu.edu.