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Prestigious Fulbright event in Miami hopes to revive appreciation of U.S. exchange program power

Then Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova speaking at the 2022 Fulbright Association conference in Bethesda, MD.
Fulbright Association
Then Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova speaking at the 2022 Fulbright Association conference in Bethesda, MD.

The Fulbright fellowship's alumni association will hold its annual gathering this week in Miami for the first time — an event organizers say matters more amid the Trump administration's moves to cancel international exchange programs.

"We want to send a strong message that if the U.S. leaves the area of international exchange, our competitors, especially China, will fill that void," said Fulbright Association vice president Leland Lazarus, an international relations professor at Florida International University, where the conference will take place from Friday through Sunday.

As a result, he said, the title of this year's conference, the association's 48th, is: United We Stand.

Lazarus, who is also a geopolitical risk consultant with expertise in China and Latin American relations, said the prestigious, State Department-run Fulbright and U.S.-funded exchange programs like it remain one of America's most potent diplomatic tools in the world.

"It would be a huge shame if something like the Fulbright program goes away," Lazarus told WLRN, "because the future of our country is bound up in the future of other countries — and so it would impact U.S. national security."

The Fulbright awards grants to thousands of students, scholars, scientists and business people each year, sending Americans abroad and foreigners to the U.S. for cultural and educational exchange.

READ MORE: Almost all of the Fulbright board resigns, citing Trump administration interference

This year, the Trump administration has proposed revoking funding for more than 20 international exchange programs, insisting such "soft power" initiatives (including the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID) are no longer in the national interest.

Earlier in the year, it appeared that the Fulbright, which was instituted in 1946, might be among them; but in July its fiscal 2026 funds were restored.

Even so, in June members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned in protest over what they called political interference by the Trump administration.

Lazarus points out one of the effects that's already emerged this year from the pullback on exchange efforts: the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities has dropped by a fifth.

There have been roughly 400,000 Fulbright fellows around the world. Many have gone on to become government leaders, international entrepreneurs and Nobel Prize winners.

The Fulbright Association conference at FIU is open to the public.

Lazarus said the gathering will examine issues such as the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on education, business and government, and how to revive appreciation for international education in an increasingly polarized world.

It will also feature résumé review and job opportunity assistance for those wanting to do international work.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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