Eric Shuman Wins 2012 Johnson Opportunity Grant at Washington and Lee University

LEXINGTON, VA (03/13/2012)(readMedia)-- Eric Shuman of Black Mountain, N.C., a sophomore at Washington and Lee University, has been selected for the spring/summer 2012 Johnson Opportunity Grant. The Johnson Program on Leadership and Integrity awards 25 to 30 grants each year.

Shuman will spend the summer in Bethlehem, Palestine, through the Palestinian Summer Encounter program.  He will volunteer with local Palestinian NGOs, stay with a Palestinian family and take academic classes on regional issues as well as the Palestinian dialect of Arabic. 

The program is run jointly by the Middle East Fellowship, a nonprofit based in the United States, and the Palestinian nonprofit Holy Land Trust.  It allows students to experience life in the Palestinian territories in order to better understand the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the everyday effects of the occupation of the West Bank and possible solutions to the conflict.

Shuman is a double major in psychology and global politics and is a member of the men's swimming team at W&L.

The grants cover living, travel and other costs associated with the students' proposed activities, which are designed to help them with their future careers and fields of study.  The grants vary in amount from $1,000 to $4,500 and are funded as part of the Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity.