Ole Miss adds six more Boren Awards for international study

Ole Miss is sending more students into one of the country’s most selective language-and-public-service pipelines, with six new Boren Awards for International Study adding to a record that has grown fast in Oxford. For Lafayette County readers, the payoff is bigger than another campus honor: it is a sign that the university is producing graduates trained for jobs that can shape diplomacy, national security, education and business far beyond Mississippi.

Among the 2026 awardees are John Henry Amburgy of Ocean Springs, a recent graduate in international studies and Chinese, and Leah Siemon of Bloomington, Indiana, a junior majoring in international studies and Chinese. Their paths show how Boren support can turn classroom language work into practical experience abroad. The awards are meant for undergraduate study of underrepresented languages and cultures critical to U.S. national security, and the program can provide up to $25,000 for 25 to 52 weeks of overseas study.

Boren recipients also accept a service commitment. As a condition of the award, they agree to seek and secure national security employment in the federal government for at least one year after graduation. That requirement helps explain why the scholarships are often viewed as a direct route into public service, especially for students who want careers in foreign policy, intelligence, federal agencies or international education.

The rest of Ole Miss’s new awardees include Jackelyn Facio of Pascagoula, a recent graduate in public policy leadership and Arabic; Mikayla Kazmierkoski of Minnetonka, Minnesota, a junior majoring in Chinese and finance; Lily Schauwecker of Starkville, an international studies and Arabic recent graduate; and Carlos Tinajero of San Antonio, Texas, a recent graduate with Chinese and political science degrees. The university said the undergraduate applicants are typically juniors and seniors, students old enough to have built the academic foundation needed for intensive language study and overseas immersion.

The university has been building this record steadily. Ole Miss announced four Boren Scholars in 2025 and ten in 2024, which the university described as its most in a single year. That kind of consistency matters in Oxford because it raises the profile of the campus and strengthens the local economy that benefits when Ole Miss attracts students aiming for nationally competitive awards. It also reinforces a broader idea about the university’s role in Lafayette County: Ole Miss is not only a game-day destination, but also a place where Mississippi students can prepare for careers with global reach and return with skills that can serve the state in government, education and the private sector.