Published on December 7, 2016 by Sean Flynt  
Victoria Smitha and Joshua Lundregan
Victoria Smitha and Joshua Lundregan

A Samford University student and staff member have earned honors in the 2016 Donghwa Cultural Foundation East Meets West International Essay Competition, which seeks to provide an intellectual and creative forum that empowers young voices and broadens the dialogue on cultural awareness and exchange.

Freshman University Fellows honor student Joshua Lundregan of Newnan, Georgia, and Victoria Smith, assistant director of Samford’s Academic Success Center, submitted essays about how their cultural views have changed in today’s globalized society. Lundregan earned the silver prize in the competition’s college division. Smith, a Samford English alumna, earned the Special Award from Korean Cultural Service NY.

Lundregan and Smith are studying Japanese language in the Samford’s Critical Languages Program, which offers instruction in less common but still highly relevant languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Thai.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.