Passports to Possibility: A Look Toward the Next 60 Years of Study Abroad
Signs on Dickinson's campus point the way to Dickinson-led program countries. Photo by Dan Loh.
Global campaign nears the finish line
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson; video by Joe O'Neill
Ask Dickinson alumni about studying abroad, and you’ll hear a common refrain: "It changed my life."
For 60 years, Dickinson students have mastered the challenges of living and learning abroad—and then brought new confidence, skills, connections and insights back home with them. Now, study-abroad alumni are helping to ensure the program continues to transform young Dickinsonians for the next 60 years.
During a milestone year for global education at Dickinson, the college launched a $10 million campaign to support study-abroad students and programs. So far, 1,013 donors have contributed a combined $9,053,556—that’s 90.5% of our $10 million goal! And with that finish line on the horizon, momentum continues to build.
‘I could tackle anything’
The excitement is no mystery. Alumni reliably tell us that studying abroad brought them remarkable opportunities to learn, connect and grow.
Many say the enhanced language and cultural skills they gained were accompanied by lasting connections with host families and study-abroad friends. Some, like Mike Deceglie '06, also forged institutional connections: After studying at the University of Queensland in Australia as an undergrad, Deceglie returned there on a Fulbright fellowship.
Alumni also describe the significant personal growth that comes from navigating daily life in a different culture, far from home.
"Your parents are 5,000 miles away," noted Kathy Bevacqua Lindsay '80, who spent her junior year in London. "It really changed me, from the standpoint of knowing that I could tackle anything."
Critically, these experiences are accessible to student-athletes and students in any major, such as Luca Lorance '27, an aspiring neuroscientist who studied abroad in New Zealand without missing a beat academically. And thanks to study-abroad scholarships and other financial aid initiatives, they’re within reach of students with limited financial means.
Clearing new paths
The benefits are felt long past graduation day, as alumni build careers around the connections and confidence they gained abroad.
Caitlin DuPrey Dudek ’06 spent her junior year in Norwich, England, an experience she described as “foundational to who I am today as a person, as a professional, as a scientist.” Steven Sosa-Soto '21 traced his work in business optimization straight back to his semester in Bologna, Italy. "In every capacity, it changed my life," he said.
One of our most passionate advocates for Dickinson study abroad has also played a leading role in expanding and enriching it. Bill Durden ’71, Dickinson president emeritus, first visited Germany as a Dickinson student. He recently reflected that that experience “made all the difference” in his life.
“I had an opportunity to experience and engage people from other cultures. I had an opportunity to test my own ideas. I also had an opportunity to … find ideas overseas and bring them back,” Durden recently recalled.
Carrying it forward
These are the experiences alumni and friends of the college are working to protect and expand—and to make available to every Dickinson student who wants to embrace them. With the campaign already nearing its goal, gifts of every size move the needle.
If you’d like to help us reach our goal, you can support study abroad in general or direct a gift to the program or fund most meaningful to you, from experiential learning in Bologna to scholarships that put a semester abroad within reach for students with financial need. Interested in establishing a new fund for global education programming or scholarships? Contact Rob Beckelheimer '82, associate vice president of college advancement, at beckelhr@dickinson.edu or 717-245-1917.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published August 19, 2026