On October 7, Russian Flagship Program faculty, staff, students and their parents gathered in the Queen Anne Lounge to recognize its first alumni cohort and celebrate their accomplishments. Through the Russian Flagship Program, UNCRFP’s alumni Griffin McGuire, John Kolodich, and Lucas Risinger have had numerous accomplishments on campus in Chapel Hill and abroad in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This past summer, these students successfully completed their Capstone year abroad in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While in Kazakhstan, each student participated in formal language coursework, direct enrollment courses, individualized tutorials, conversation partners, bi-weekly excursions, including several overnight trips, local internships, and homestays with Russian-speaking families.
At UNC, Griffin McGuire served as the UNCRFP Student Ambassador and the Slavic Club President. To support his studies abroad, Griffin received the Boren Scholarship. As part of his internship at the Kazakh Museum of Musical Instruments, McGuire constructed a traditional Kazakh instrument.
John Kolodich graduated from the UNC Kenan Flagler Business School with a degree in Business Administration. In Kazakhstan, Kolodich was able to continue his business studies and completed his internship at Ernst & Young, conducting research and assisting with translations.
Lucas Risigner studied Economics and Mathematics at UNC. Lucas received two competitive US Government scholarships to support his studies abroad: the Fulbright-Hays Scholarship and Boren Scholarship. While in Kazakhstan, Risinger interned at the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia, assisting with research and translation.
Currently, the Russian Flagship Program at UNC has four students are participating in their Capstone year abroad: David Green, Max Hazerjian, Reilly Robinson, and Quintin Gay. In October, Meredith Doubleday, UNC Russian Flagship Program’s Assistant Director traveled to Kazakhstan to visit the students at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. This was UNC’s first visit to the Russian Flagship Program’s overseas partner program. Doubleday visited the students’ classes, met their instructors and host families, and participated in cultural excursions around the city. The Russian Flagship Program is excited to celebrate their accomplishments when they graduate from the program this Spring!