Wheaton graduate wins Fulbright to study, work in Mexico
April 30, 2001
Arnulfo De La Cruz, a 2000 Wheaton graduate with a double major in international relations and Hispanic studies, has been awarded a highly competitive Fulbright Bi-national Business Grant. De La Cruz will use his Fulbright award to study at Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology, while working at Cemex, a multinational cement corporation. Only 10 students are selected each year for Fulbright-funded Bi-national Business Grants for Mexico. Five other Wheaton scholars have been honored with other Fulbright awards this year, and Wheaton students also have been awarded the Rhodes and British Marshall Scholarships.
A resident of Milton, Mass., De La Cruz plans to study comparative law, economics and international trade at the Mexican university. He begins his one-year program in Mexico in September.
De La Cruz currently works as a paralegal at a downtown Boston law firm. Upon his return from Mexico, he plans to enroll in a dual-degree law program that awards a J.D. and a master's in international law.
"I hope to develop and foster strong relations between the developing countries of Latin America and the United States, with the ultimate goal of trimming the incredible economic income disparity that exists in Latin America," De La Cruz says.
His interest in working in Mexico has to do with his being Mexican-American. As a boy, De La Cruz says, he was involved in a movement to better the living standards of farm workers in California.
"I moved frequently as a child, from one agricultural area to another--and eventually settled in Boston during the grape boycott of the late 1980s," he says. He adds that the overturn of the long-time incumbent political party PRI is also exciting as it gives Mexico a chance to purge internal political corruption.
The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Today the Fulbright Program is the U.S. Government's premier scholarship program, enabling U.S. students, artists and other professionals to benefit from unique resources in every corner of the world.
Wheaton, located in Norton, Mass., is a selective college of the liberal arts and sciences with a student body of 1,500. Nationwide, it is one of two colleges and universities with students winning Rhodes, Marshall, Truman and Fulbright scholarships this year.
Last updated on 10/15/01.
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