Thirteen Lander University students will spend the spring 2012 semester studying at colleges and universities in Spain, Argentina, Italy, England, Chile and New Zealand. Dr. DeWitt Stone Jr., director of Lander's Study Abroad Program, said this is a record number of Lander students selected to spend a semester at international schools.
Six students will be enrolled at the University of Winchester in England. They are: Tanisha Elder, a psychology major from Columbia; Kimberly Freeman, of North Charleston, mass communication; Colleen McGhee, of Greenwood, visual arts; Shawaunna Middleton, of Johns Island, accounting; Stephen Sanders, of Greenwood, English; and Tylan Stroud, of Blacksburg, graphic design.
Three students majoring in Spanish and two with Spanish minors will be headed for Spain and South America. Kayla Anderson, of Bradley, and MacKenzie MacVittie, of Lugoff, will study at Tandem International in Madrid, while Lauren Carroll, of Greenwood, will spend her spring semester at the University of Sevilla in Seville. Kendall Couch of Tifton, Ga., will be enrolled at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Megan McDonnough, of Rock Hill, will spend the semester at the University of Vina Del Mar in Chile.
Stephen D'Amato, of Duncan, an exercise science major, will be enrolled at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy; and Karen MacPherson, of Simpsonville, will study at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Anderson, Carroll, Couch, Elder, MacVittie, McGhee, Middleton, Sanders and Stroud are in Lander's Honors International Program.
The spring Study Abroad contingent raises to 97 the number of Lander students selected for the program since 2005 when Stone became director. He said 63 have spent or will spend a semester at colleges and universities in England with five completing their student teaching requirements through the University of Brighton.
Fifteen of the students were accepted by five schools in Spain and the rest by schools in Germany, France, Scotland, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico and Japan.
The credits they earn at the foreign schools apply toward their academic requirements at Lander.
According to Stone's latest count, another 30 students have expressed interest in Study Abroad for the summer or fall semesters this year or spring of 2013.
The week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5 has been designated as Study Abroad Week to give Lander students the opportunity to learn more about what the program offers.