Some thoughts/ideas for @FulbrightPrgrm and other current #Fulbrighters ( @FulbrightCrisis) as we move into a fall semester where COVID cases are still rapidly spreading and colleges are instituting mandatory quarantines for students. A long thread (sorry):

Many of us who won grants in 2019 and 2020 were either forced out of country after just arriving or have not had the opportunity to use our grants in any way. I fall into the latter category. COVID struck and your program did the right thing by trying to get folks safely home,

and you delayed the start of the 2020 cycle due to safety and health concerns. I think these were the right decisions. Due to this, however, many of us were told to reapply for the 2021/2022 cycle since our previous grants were canceled/delayed. I take issue with the fact that we

were not given the chance to defer our grants until the next year, but you have proven to us already that you are not willing to work with us on that issue at all, so I digress. So, we are now reapplying for #Fulbright after having already won the award. You have also made it

very clear that you are not giving us any sort of priority in the next competition. Again, I take issue with this but I've accepted that you are not willing to work with us. This being said, I am very humbly asking you to take a couple of things into consideration as many of us

make our way through another arduous application season. Applications are due in October, and last year I didn't get my first communication from Fulbright until sometime in February. I think it would be wonderful of your organization to consider speeding up the timeline. I know

that the application goes through many readers, embassies, and govt folks. It would require them to work a little faster, and I know it sucks to ask more of people right now, but you have asked the world of us. Reciprocation would go a long way. If you were able to get apps read

and sorted quicker, then you could let finalists know whether they have a 2021/2022 grant before they supposedly leave in January 2021. This would allow current grantees to make the safe choice to remain home and not risk jobs, housing, security for a few months of a grant that

will inevitably be limited due to COVID. This brings me to my next point: are you dragging out the inevitable cancellation of the 2020/2021 grant? As Fulbright orientation starts this week, which is scheduled to last about two weeks for most of us, I think it is unfair to ask us

to do all of this work only for you to cancel the grant. Colleges and universities are facing massive quarantines, classes are all online, travel out of the US is very limited, archives and libraries domestically and abroad are not open/working at limited capacity, and other day-

to-day activities are very limited. What would be the point to send folks abroad in January in this climate? In my own case, it is likely that I could make only very limited progress toward my grant project due to world circumstances. I certainly don't want to go abroad just to

get called back. I watched in horror as 2019 grantees scrambled to catch flights, find jobs, and face financial rebuke from the Fulbright program. So I appeal to you, @FulbrightPrgrm. If you are going to cancel the grants that are now schedule to start in January 2021, I get it.

But, at least let us know soon so we can plan our lives. It won't fly with me (and I'm sure with others as well) to wait until December and then find out we aren't going anywhere. You have a chance to handle this year's cycle with grace and with confidence if you are willing to

communicate with us early and often. I, and perhaps others, would be happy to talk with Fulbright officials about these concerns and work with them to find righteous solutions to our problems. It is, in many ways, why we were selected to do our work with your program. For those

still reading...thanks. Please share widely so other Fulbrighters can connect and share thoughts. I'm sure there are numerous other problems I've overlooked, but this is enough from me. I just want to see things done for the right reason this time around. Let's work together,

@FulbrightPrgrm. There are many of us willing to get involved.