DePauw Stories

DePauw sophomore Luis Avila has won a scholarship that will enable him to study in London next fall term.

Avila, a theatre major from Chicago, is one of 123 students from around the country who received a scholarship from the Fund for Education Abroad, which awarded $400,000 in scholarships to students who are traditionally underrepresented in study-abroad programs. During this application cycle, 85% of the awarded scholars are students of color, 82% are first-generation college students and 35% have never left the United States.

Avila, who is a first-generation college student, said he has never before traveled outside the United States, though he will have by the time he heads to London. He and his twin brother Francisco, also a member of the DePauw Class of 2024, plan to go to Brazil during spring break on a service trip sponsored by their Greencastle church, St. Paul the Apostle.

The scholarship program “is a highly selective national award that prioritizes students who, without this funding, would not be able to access education abroad,” said Mandy Brookins, associate dean of experiential learning and director of off-campus programs.

Avila, who played Tiny Tim’s brother in a DePauw Zoom production of “The Christmas Carol” last year and a villain in Sophocles’s “Ajax: The Wounds of War,” will take theatre classes and, he hopes, land an internship while in London.