East Central University junior Elsa Colette Mosley was selected as a 2016 Russian Scholar Laureate, it was announced recently by the American Council of Teachers of Russian.
Mosley is political science and studio art major, with a Russian studies minor, from Sulphur.
She was nominated for the award by Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya, director of ECU’s Russian Studies and Global Education programs. Mosley is president of ECU’s Russian Club and was able to put her Russian language skills to work after going to St. Petersburg, Russia in May of 2015.
“I believe that ECU should be very proud of its small Russian Studies minor program that produces students who can successfully compete with students from prestigious schools across the United States,” said Sukholutskaya. “As we say in Russian, ‘It is not the size of the treasure box that matters, but a precious stone inside it.”
Mosley will represent ECU’s Global Education Program while studying at ECU’s sister-university in Limoges, France this fall. She plans on taking a Russian class at Limoges, along with other courses.
Mosley has been president of ECU’s Rotaract Club and is a junior representative for the university’s Student Senate.
This national award testifies to the high esteem afforded by ECU’s Russian program, according to Dr. Alla A. Smyslova, chair of the Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Program and from the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures from Columbia University.
According to Smyslova, Russian language programs from across the country were assigned the difficult task of nominating one person who embodies the best qualities of a post-secondary Russian language student: an unfailing devotion to and a passion for Russian language, literature and culture; a commitment to excellence and an enthusiasm for knowledge and cultural literacy.
“I cannot stress enough the praise and admiration your faculty has for you,” said Smyslova in a letter to Mosley. “Indeed, it is gratifying to know that students of your caliber are studying Russian. The Russian language field is better and richer, thanks to dedicated students like you.”
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