During his tenure at the College, from 1975 to 2003, Jeffrey Foster, professor emeritus of French, watched the campus transform from a small institution of approximately 2,000 students to a university of more than 10,000 students. Having accompanied one of the first groups of College students to study abroad in France and helping lay the groundwork for the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs, he played a leading role in making the languages a critical component of a College of Charleston education.
“Travel is an invaluable experience for students,” Foster believes, “and I decided to start a scholarship to assist students to study abroad in France because I want them to appreciate another culture and what it’s like to enjoy a society with different values.”
The first recipient of the Jeffrey A. Foster French Travel Scholarship, Marjorie Rawle, an Honors College double major in art history and arts management, traveled to Lille, France, this spring.
“I met some of the most incredible and interesting people there,” observes Rawle, “and it’s really a testament to how intriguing the French are as a whole. It’s an amazing country with a really rich history and an even richer contemporary culture that is so complex and unique that I would need another 10 years there just to appreciate it fully.”
What she can fully appreciate, however, is this amazing opportunity to travel. And she has Foster to thank for that.
