
Scholarships and Awards
- Messner Scholarship: $20,000 opportunity for incoming humanities majors!
The Dr. Charles A. Messner Scholarship Fund is a $5,000 annual scholarship available to humanties students.
The department offers five scholarships to current students:
- The Dean’s Award for Excellence in Foreign Language
- The Ernest S. Falbo Modern Foreign Language Award, to outstanding students in modern languages
- The Charles A. Messner Classic Prize, for students in the classics (Greek, Latin, or classical studies)
- The Javier Ortiz-Calderón and Maribel Garrett Award, for senior Spanish majors
- The Dr. Éliane McKee French Education Scholarship, for Professional French, Francophone Studies, or French Education majors
Download qualifications, application instructions, and deadlines.
- MCL Ambassador Award: given annually to an alumnus and/or area teacher who has partnered with our department in language teacher education

Beyond the Classroom
Student activities include a Spanish Club (Amigos de la Tertulia), a French Club (La Table Francaise), and a German Club. Eligible students are inducted into local chapters of Sigma Delta Pi (National Spanish Honor Society) and Pi Delta Phi (National French Honor Society).
Other opportunities for students include teaching English at Journey’s End Refugee Center, The International Institute, and internships at organizations like Hispanos Unidos, or the Hispanic Heritage Council of WNY.

Study Abroad
The department sponsors a three-week, six-credit-hour summer study experience in French-speaking Quebec and a five-week summer study experience in Salamanca, Spain.
The SUNY system’s oldest study-abroad program is Buffalo State’s Siena, Italy program, in which students study contemporary culture and art, as well as Italian language for a semester.
