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Press Releases | |
August 11, 1997
Southampton Graduate Campus Sets A Record With Its 7th Fulbright Scholar in 1997Farrell Hochmuth of Illinois Wins Fulbright Scholarship to Zimbabwe
Contact: Jane Finalborgo, Joe Dionisio
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081
The Six Other Fulbrights of 1997 Southampton, NY -- Farrell Hochmuth of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who in May earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies, is the seventh student at Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University to be awarded a 1997 Fulbright Scholarship for graduate study abroad.
In the past 22 years, 28 Southampton Graduate Campus students have won this scholarship, a remarkable number for a small institution. The seven Fulbright winners in 1997 mark the best single-year total in the College's 34-year history, and may be the highest for any equivalent-sized college in the nation.
"Farrell is one of 10 Fulbright Scholars from Southampton Graduate Campus
- in the last two years," said Timothy Bishop, College Provost. "This recent success reflects the growing reputation of our academic programs." Harriet Fulbright, whose late husband established the scholarship in 1946, received an Honorary Degree at the Spring commencement.
Hochmuth, 22, daughter of William and Jean Hochmuth, will study permaculture -- an alternative agricultural method -- during a 10-month stay at the University of Zimbabwe and PELUM Centre (Participatory Ecological Land-Use Management), beginning in January.
Her Fulbright project will examine Zimbabwe's need to feed families and create cash crops like cotton. By creating ecosystems of 15 to 20 species (instead of monocropping, i.e., a potato field), plants can defend each other against bugs, while soil erosion and deforestation can be alleviated without use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers.
"There are probably few people in the world in her age group (with) the experience and communication skills to articulate permaculture's importance," said Scott Carlin, assistant professor of Environmental Studies. "Farrell is an excellent communicator, and if she chooses, will undoubtedly be a great teacher."
Her awareness of Long Islandıs declining agricultural resources sparked her interest in permaculture. "My father was raised in Port Jefferson (N.Y.)," said Hochmuth, "so our family spent summers visiting Long Island. It was here that I gained my love for the ocean and its ecosystems."
This love of ecology led Hochmuth to a deep appreciation of the College's unique location. ³Sitting on the steps of my dormitory," she said, "I could see the ocean in the distance and marvel how different it was from Lake Michigan."
The 1993 graduate of Wheaton North (Ill.) High School took advantage of some of Southampton Graduate Campus' many experiential learning programs.
As a participant in the Cooperative Education program in 1994-95, she worked for WordHampton Public Relations, applying her minor in Communications/Public Relations. Hochmuth spent the Spring of 1996 in Byron Bay, Australia, in the Collegeıs inaugural "Spring in Australia Program" developed by Professor Ralph Herbert. There, she studied environmental processes, including Alternative Agriculture. She completed two internships, one at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in the summer of 1996, the other in 1997 at Group For The South Fork, a Long Island environmental advocacy group.
"Other schools just donıt have the contacts with environmental agencies that we have," added Hochmuth. "Iıve always been interested in the environment, so I hope to find a way to combine that with communications, which is my forte."
Hochmuth's strengths are not only academic. Motivated by her love for the arts, she performed in six Southampton Players theater productions, including Working, in 1997. Growing up, she studied classical piano, clarinet, jazz, ballet en pointe, tap dancing, and the performing arts. As family members often said during her childhood, "If you don't try new things, you won't learn new things."
Throughout her collegiate career, Hochmuth was a member of the Dean's List, the Faculty Honors List, the Honors Program, and was a Merit Fellows Scholar. She also won the Long Island University Academic Excellence Award.
Thanks to her parents and her professors, motivation for such success was never a problem, she insists. Hochmuth says that her ³incredibly supportive² parents, who faithfully made trips from the midwest to see all six of her theater performances, already are planning to visit her in Zimbabwe.
As for her professors: "(They) arenıt just teaching or reading from a book, theyıre involved in efforts to preserve the environment," said Hochmuth. "People can talk to you all the time, but when you see them doing things, thatıs what gets you motivated."
The Six Other Fulbrights of 1997