Elliana Arnold and Daniel Campbell, graduating seniors at The Catholic University of America, have received competitive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. Both will head to Europe this fall, promoting cultural exchange and dialogue as English teaching assistants. This is the ninth straight year Catholic University students have won Fulbright Awards. Jo Ann Regan, dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service, also was selected as a Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador, and she will serve from 2026 to 2028.
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 as an investment in global peace and American prosperity through educational and cultural exchange. A program of the U.S. Department of State, it gives exceptional Americans and participants from 160 countries and locations opportunities to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbright funding is provided by the U.S. Government, with direct and indirect support from participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world. Approximately 2,000 U.S. students receive a Fulbright each year.
More about Elliana
Elliana Arnold, a senior from Naperville, IL, majoring in English secondary education (with a minor in writing), will work at the Colegio Jesús-María de Madrid, in Spain. The school is part of the FERE-CECA association, the association of Catholic schools in Spain.
“I will get the chance to not only expand my worldview and work and live alongside people of another culture but also engage with students who are quite different from me, and learn from educators who face both similar and unique challenges, as I will,” Elliana said.
She already has experience teaching English as a foreign language and leading multicultural classrooms. This will be her second summer working with international students to facilitate their cross-cultural immersion through the Georgetown Preparatory School's Summer English Program.
As a sophomore, Elliana spent a semester at Catholic University’s Rome Center in Italy. Working with the Center’s program coordinator, she initiated a volunteer program to allow students to serve as English teaching assistants at Scuola Pubblica Elementare Francesco Crispi, a neighborhood elementary school. That outreach included developing language lessons to introduce Italian fifth graders to American culture.
Elliana received the Cathy Ellen Roberts Excellence in Writing Award from the English Department, has been a peer tutor at the University’s Writing Center, a resident assistant, student ambassador, managing editor of The Tower student news, and a co-captain for the women’s Ultimate Frisbee team.
She also has volunteered as an ESL teacher with the Washington English Center and completed research for the Center that was presented during University Research Day, “A Break from Tradition: Strategies and Approaches for Tutoring ESL/EFL Writers.”
Deep Dive with Daniel
Daniel Campbell, a double major in music (vocal performance) and global studies from Chandler, AZ, will head to Germany to teach at a school in the most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. He’s looking forward to learning more about the country’s life and culture and to helping students promote a deeper appreciation of music.
“Winning a Fulbright award gives me the chance to combine my love of teaching with my eagerness to learn more about other cultures,” Daniel said.
In the future, Daniel hopes to continue his studies in music and to engage with the opera industry in Germany.
As a voice student, Daniel has been on stage in a number of highly acclaimed opera productions, including The Medium, Serse, selected scenes from Die Zauberflöte, L'elisir d'amore, La Bohème, and Dialogues of the Carmelites. He has tutored in German and music theory, was a Student Government Association senator for one year, led Italian Conversation Hour on campus, and for two years, assisted in preschool education around the Washington, D.C., region through the Jumpstart program.
In fall 2025, he studied with the FU-BEST program in Berlin. He also spent a summer in Milan, Italy, where he volunteered with a church camp while living with a host family through the VoluntarItaly program.
Both students credit Andrew Litke, assistant director for academic support, grants, and fellowships with the University’s Center for Academic Success, for his support as they prepared their Fulbright applications, and other professors who have played important roles in their academic life. Daniel says Clinical Assistant Professor Katharina Rudolf helped him continue to develop his German language skills, and Elliana noted the key assistance of professors and instructors Ernest Suarez, Taryn Okuma, and Sr. Marirose Rudek, R.S.M.
