At its Annual Dinner Meeting on
April 13, 2007, the German Society of Maryland honored four students who are
majoring in German at Maryland universities.
Sophia Burton, Lucy Erickson and Stephen Paul, who are students at
the University of Maryland College Park, and Brittany Grasser of the
University of Maryland Baltimore County were congratulated by Dr. Armin Mruck,
Chair of the German Society’s Education Committee.
Then Brigitte Fessenden, President of the German Society, presented
each student with a certificate of merit and a $ 500. check.
The award letter that each student had received from President
Fessenden several weeks prior to this event included the following:
“Your
transcript, essay, and letters of recommendation show that you are an
exceptionally outstanding student with a special interest in the German
language and the field of German studies.
In presenting you with this award we recognize your past achievements
and encourage your continued work in this area.”
Outstanding high school and independent school students of German have
been honored by the Maryland/ DC Metro Chapter of AATG (American Association
of Teachers of German) for many years and the German Society of Maryland has
contributed generously to the cash awards and the refreshments at this annual
event held in the “Adlersaal” of Zion
Lutheran Church. However, this
recognition of four college-level students by the German Society represents a
reinstatement of a previous scholarship program that had been discontinued.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s one college student of the German language
and culture had been honored with a scholarship each year.
The initiative was reinstated in the spring of 2006 and expanded to
include four students per year. Dr.
Armin Mruck, Mrs. Linda Butt, Dr. Mohamed Esa and Dr. Maureen Helinski are the
German Society Board Members who are responsible for administering this
program. They distribute
information to professors and department heads at the Maryland colleges and
universities. Then they receive
applications, transcripts and letters of recommendation from interested
students. As a committee they make
the decisions concerning which students will be honored by the German Society.
They are to be commended for their success in encouraging college-level
students to continue studying German.
Mary Upman
