CIEE and Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs to co-sponsor 2021 cohort of Frederick Douglass Global Fellows

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) are pleased to announce they will partner to support the fifth cohort of Frederick Douglass Global Fellows, who will study in Dublin, and visit across the island, during summer 2021.

Established in 2017 to increase access to study abroad by diverse students, The Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, covers all costs for 10 outstanding students who identify as an ethnicity typically underrepresented on study abroad programs to participate in a customized summer study abroad program focused on leadership and intercultural communication. Previous cohorts of Fellows have studied in London and Cape Town.

Fellows are selected based on their academic achievement, communication skills, and commitment to social justice — qualities representative of the award’s namesake, African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and international statesman Frederick Douglass.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has committed to cosponsoring the 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellows to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s four-month long tour of Ireland, during which he addressed over forty abolitionist meetings across Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and Belfast.

Welcoming the announcement, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney remarked: ‘‘175 years ago today in Dublin, 27 year-old Frederick Douglass met and spoke alongside Daniel O’Connell, an abolitionist whose writings he had first encountered whilst a teenage slave in Maryland. O’Connell’s speech that evening left Douglass, in his own words, ‘‘completely captivated’’. Three months later, as he readied to leave our shores, the young American reflected that he had spent some of the happiest moments of his life in Ireland and now lived ‘‘a new life’’. To celebrate that legacy, and reinforce the ties between our nations, I’m delighted that, through this new Fellowship, ten brilliant young Americans from minority backgrounds will have the opportunity to join us in Ireland next year.”

“Frederick Douglass described himself as ‘‘transformed’’ by his time in Ireland. He returned to the United States a free man who spent the next 50 years of his life agitating for positive change in our world,” said James P. Pellow, president and CEO of CIEE. “It is fitting that our fifth cohort of Frederick Douglass Global Fellows will study in Dublin in summer 2021. We believe that they too will be changed by an international experience and will return home prepared to become the bold, globally conscious, service-oriented leaders we need today.”

Nettie Washington Douglass, chairwoman and co-founder of Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and the great, great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass and great granddaughter of Booker T. Washington, said, “The welcome and respect with which my great, great grandfather was greeted across his tour of Ireland affected him profoundly. I appreciate that CIEE and Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs are honoring that legacy by helping future American leaders follow in his footsteps, develop a global perspective and the intercultural awareness that will prepare them to be agents of change.”

To learn more about the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, visit ciee.org/fdgf

About the Council on International Educational Exchange
CIEE, the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit study abroad and intercultural exchange organization, transforms lives and builds bridges by promoting the exchange of ideas and experiences. To help people develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world, CIEE sponsors a wide variety of opportunities for cultural exchange, including work exchange programs, teach abroad programs, and a worldwide portfolio of study abroad and internship programs for college and high school students. www.ciee.org.

Contact
Leslie Taylor
(207) 553-4274
ltaylor@ciee.org

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) are pleased to announce they will partner to support the fifth cohort of Frederick Douglass Global Fellows, who will study in Dublin, and visit across the island, during summer 2021.

Established in 2017 to increase access to study abroad by diverse students, The Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, covers all costs for 10 outstanding students who identify as an ethnicity typically underrepresented on study abroad programs to participate in a customized summer study abroad program focused on leadership and intercultural communication. Previous cohorts of Fellows have studied in London and Cape Town.

Fellows are selected based on their academic achievement, communication skills, and commitment to social justice — qualities representative of the award’s namesake, African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and international statesman Frederick Douglass.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has committed to cosponsoring the 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellows to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s four-month long tour of Ireland, during which he addressed over forty abolitionist meetings across Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and Belfast.

Welcoming the announcement, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney remarked: ‘‘175 years ago today in Dublin, 27 year-old Frederick Douglass met and spoke alongside Daniel O’Connell, an abolitionist whose writings he had first encountered whilst a teenage slave in Maryland. O’Connell’s speech that evening left Douglass, in his own words, ‘‘completely captivated’’. Three months later, as he readied to leave our shores, the young American reflected that he had spent some of the happiest moments of his life in Ireland and now lived ‘‘a new life’’. To celebrate that legacy, and reinforce the ties between our nations, I’m delighted that, through this new Fellowship, ten brilliant young Americans from minority backgrounds will have the opportunity to join us in Ireland next year.”

“Frederick Douglass described himself as ‘‘transformed’’ by his time in Ireland. He returned to the United States a free man who spent the next 50 years of his life agitating for positive change in our world,” said James P. Pellow, president and CEO of CIEE. “It is fitting that our fifth cohort of Frederick Douglass Global Fellows will study in Dublin in summer 2021. We believe that they too will be changed by an international experience and will return home prepared to become the bold, globally conscious, service-oriented leaders we need today.”

Nettie Washington Douglass, chairwoman and co-founder of Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and the great, great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass and great granddaughter of Booker T. Washington, said, “The welcome and respect with which my great, great grandfather was greeted across his tour of Ireland affected him profoundly. I appreciate that CIEE and Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs are honoring that legacy by helping future American leaders follow in his footsteps, develop a global perspective and the intercultural awareness that will prepare them to be agents of change.”

To learn more about the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, visit ciee.org/fdgf

About the Council on International Educational Exchange
CIEE, the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit study abroad and intercultural exchange organization, transforms lives and builds bridges by promoting the exchange of ideas and experiences. To help people develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world, CIEE sponsors a wide variety of opportunities for cultural exchange, including work exchange programs, teach abroad programs, and a worldwide portfolio of study abroad and internship programs for college and high school students. www.ciee.org.

Contact
Leslie Taylor
(207) 553-4274
ltaylor@ciee.org