Meet Our Students
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a foreign language major, second major, minor, or double minor at Illinois State? A wide variety of students study languages. This page features the accomplishments of not only our very best students, but is also meant to provide an idea of what the typical language student's life is, both in the classroom, as well as in clubs, in community engagement, and study abroad.
Bone Scholar Recipients
As the highest honor that a student can receive at Illinois State, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures is proud to highlight the significant number of LAN majors that have been Bone Scholars over the years. Read more about the Bone Scholarship and the application process here.
| 1967-1968 | Harwood, Grace L. | Russian |
| 1969-1970 | Barz, Diane | French |
| McAlister, Jane | Spanish | |
| 1970-1971 | Mason, Victoria | Spanish |
| 1976-1977 | Buehner, Heidrum M. | German |
| 1980-1981 | DeBaillie, Beth | French |
| 1981-1982 | Addy, Denise | French |
| 1982-1983 | Anderson, Wallace | French and Biology |
| 1986-1987 | Wiese, Rebecca | Spanish and Economics |
| 1987-1988 | Fortin, Christel | French and International Business |
| 1990-1991 | Hanse, Keven Richard | German and History and Math |
| 1991-1992 | Ahlgrim, Kimberly | French and International Business |
| Rogers, Lance | French and Applied Computer Science | |
| 1992-1993 | Kramer, Christina | Spanish |
| 1995-1996 | Schnorr, Cheyenne D. | Spanish Teacher Education |
| Warth, Anne Elizabeth | French and International Business | |
| 1999-2000 | Klima, Donna Erlene | Spanish Teacher Education |
| 2001-2001 | Wagner, Emily May | Spanish |
| 2002-2003 | Hake, Karin | |
| 2003-2004 | Damery, Rebecca | Spanish |
| 2004-2005 | Gibson, Sarah | French |
| 2008-2009 | Trautwein, Sarah | French Teacher Education |
| 2010-2011 | Coker, Kelsey | Spanish and English |
| 2011-2012 | Kopp, Caitlin | Spanish and Anthropology |
| Soppett, Laura | Spanish | |
| 2015-2016 | Karim, Elora | Spanish and English |
| 2016-2017 | Koszyk, Lauren | German and Music |
| Ott, Beau | Spanish and History | |
| 2017-2018 | Walsh, Kiley | Spanish Teacher Education |
LAN Current Students' Stories
People major or minor in a foreign language for so many reasons, and benefit from it differently. Nothing is better than hearing straight from the student what their experience is. Read below to find out. Want to share your story? Complete our Student Story Submission form.
Newly renovated Language Commons creates space for connection, collaboration
The Language Commons in Stevenson Hall, room 227B, has a new look thanks to help from the Academic Enhancement Fund. [Read the rest]
Sigma Delta Pi earns 12th national award
Illinois State University’s Eta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, has been named an Honor Chapter for its exceptional activities in 2025-26. [Read the rest]
Students in CSD and world languages find commonalities
In recent years, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures has noticed an increase in students majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) who also want to major or minor in a world language. [Read the rest]
World languages teacher education students attend professional conference
Students in the semester prior to student teaching as part of the course LAN 320 World Language Teaching in the K-12 Setting attended one day of the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL) conference with hundreds of other State of Illinois World Languages teachers. [Read the rest]
Spanish minor delighted with study abroad in Costa Rica
Spanish minor Kyli Selberg talks about her study abroad trip last summer to Costa Rica. [Read the rest]Read more stories about Languages, Literatures, and Cultures students.