Daniel Cheluget, a junior at WashU majoring in biology with a minor in African and African American studies (AFAS), both within the Arts & Sciences department, has been awarded a 2025 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Swahili in Arusha, Tanzania.

Funded by the U.S. State Department and managed by the American Councils for International Education, the CLS initiative aims to increase the number of Americans engaging in and mastering important foreign languages. Awardees undertake approximately a full academic year’s curriculum of university-level language studies within an immersive eight- to 10-week timeframe, all while being deeply engaged in the corresponding culture.

At WashU, Cheluget has learned Swahili under the mentorship of Mungai Mutonya, a teaching professor in AFAS. He represents the sixth WashU student to obtain a CLS scholarship in Swahili since 2016, when the State Department classified it as a critical language. Notable previous scholarship recipients include Neema Kamala (AB ’19), Alexandra Barrett (MA ’21, AB ’17), Julia Stewart (AB ’21), Lucy Meigs (AB ’22), and Grethe Andersen (AB ’23).

The article Cheluget wins Critical Language Scholarship was first published on The Source.