Coxswain Jones Awarded Prestigious Bonderman Fellowship
4/2/2018 10:09:00 AM | Rowing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior coxswain Alexis Jones of the University of Michigan rowing team is one of four recipients for the 2018-19 Bonderman Fellowship, the U-M Center for Global and Intercultural Study (CGIS) announced Sunday (April 1).
The Bonderman Fellowship offers four College of Literature, Science and the Arts graduating seniors $20,000 to travel the world over the course of eight months. The individuals must travel to at least two regions of the world and six countries over the course of that time, and they are expected to immerse themselves in independent and enriching explorations, engaging with cultures, people and ideas of the world with which they are not familiar. Only Michigan and the University of Washington offer the Bonderman Fellowship.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Jones will graduate next month having earned her B.S. in biochemistry with a Latin minor, and she has a long-term goal of pursuing medical school.
That plan will have to go on hold for the time being, though. As a recipient of the Bonderman Fellowship, Jones' trip and stipend will extend into the spring of 2019 as she travels across the globe. Her travel itinerary is not fixed and will be flexible throughout the fellowship, but following is a list of some of the destinations Jones is planning to see when she departs this fall: Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Greece.
Jones is the first U-M student-athlete to earn this prestigious distinction since women's track and field athlete Erin Busbee won the honor in 2015.
"I am so happy for Alexis," said head coach Mark Rothstein, "Our whole program is excited that she is getting this amazing chance to travel the world, and we are so grateful that the University of Michigan is the kind of place where these kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are presented to students and student-athletes."
On the water, Jones is an integral piece of Michigan's varsity squad. She served as the coxswain of the second varsity eight boat that medaled at the NCAA Championships (third place) in 2017. Jones has coxed the first varsity eight (1V8) boat in two of three spring competitions this year and competed as a member of the 2V8 in the other weekend.
Michigan will host its first event of the spring on Saturday (April 7), a Big Ten duel with Indiana and Iowa. Races are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with the first morning session.
• Center for Global and Intercultural Study (CGIS) Announcement
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