Lionel Foster wins Marshall scholarship

Hopkins senior Lionel Foster has been awarded a Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Kent at Canterbury following graduation. After being notified on Nov. 19 that he had been selected, he was given 48 hours to accept or decline it. Foster accepted the offer to spend the next two years in England to complete a Master's degree with all expenses paid.

Each candidate is required to include a specific topic to study when applying for a Marshall Scholarship. Foster's proposal is to study urban regeneration. Urban regeneration looks at "what are cities problems and how can we solve them," said Foster. He wants to focus "specifically as it relates to black churches [and] what role they play." This is an idea that Foster has been developing for some time. Having grown up in Baltimore, the problems of a city in general and Baltimore in particular were obvious to him. Primarily, he sees "great deal of poverty in Baltimore city," to the point where it is disproportionate to the rest of the state. This can lead to a feeling of hopelessness, which "doesn't necessarily come up in economic journals, but it's significant," said Foster. He is particularly interested in the role of black churches because he feels that "people find hope in religion" and perhaps this can contribute to the of study in any discipline.

In addition to covering tuition fees, the scholarships include a first-year arrival allowance, a monthly personal allowance, a yearly book grant, a grant to cover the cost of preparing the students' theses and fare to and from the United States. As part of the application, candidates are required to specify which university they would like to study at and outline their proposed focus of study in detail.

A third year may be granted on a case-by-case basis if a student can sufficiently justify the need for the additional time to complete their theses. Marshall scholars are encouraged to pursue a Master's degree rather than a Ph.D. since a Ph.D. in Britain requires a minimum of three years of research.

One past Marshall Scholar from Johns Hopkins was Kimberly Ennico in 1994.

Foster is also still a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one of 12 semifinalists from the Washington D.C. region to be granted an interview. After the interviews next Wednesday, that number will be reduced to three. If he is selected as a Rhodes scholar, he will be forced to decide between the two. Foster is not yet thinking about that decision, however.

"I feel incredibly lucky" to have been given a Marshall Scholarship, said Foster. If he is also awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, "I'll think about it then," he said.

Foster spent a semester abroad last year at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, where he studied Latin, ancient Roman history/archeology and art history. He has been involved with Students Educating and Empowering for Diversity (SEED), the Black Students Union (BSU) and the Mentoring Assistance Peer Program (MAP).

If he had not chosen to accept the scholarship, Foster had options in investment banking he was considering, both in the United States and in London.

Foster is familiar with London, having spent 10 weeks there this summer as an intern with Merril Lynch. "It's a great place...I have lots of friends there," he said.