Two undergraduates from the University of Colorado at Boulder have been named 2001 Truman Scholars from a field of 592 candidates nominated by colleges and universities throughout the nation.
CU junior Jack "Doug" Wilson, an English and philosophy double major from Colorado Springs, and Jessica Sucherman, a junior and a double major in English and anthropology from Mancos, Colo., each will receive $3,000 scholarships for their senior years at CU-Boulder and $27,000 each to be used for graduate school.
Truman Scholars are selected on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood that they will "make a difference" in the future, according to the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
Eighty students were awarded the scholarships this year at 56 colleges and universities nationwide. The only other student in Colorado to receive the honor was Matthew Roberts of Utah, studying at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
"For any university to have two students named Truman Scholars in one year is quite an honor," said Lauri McNown of CU-Boulder's Honors Program. "Everyone involved in the scholarship process at the University of Colorado is extremely proud of Jessica and Doug and their accomplishments. For a junior in college to possess all the qualifications is unusual and shows a great deal of focus and direction."
Both Wilson and Sucherman have embraced volunteer causes that have strong personal significance for them, and through their volunteer activities both have exhibited leadership potential. Both also are members of CU-Boulder's Presidents Leadership Class, devoted to the study and application of leadership in the community and the world.
Wilson's work for the Denver office of the American Civil Liberties Union was spurred by the experiences of a close high school friend, who was tormented for being openly gay and endured vandalism, insults and mocking in high school, despite the fact he had been elected the first openly gay student on the student council. The incidents coincided with the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming and spurred Wilson, who is straight, to begin volunteering for the ACLU and to begin a student chapter of the ACLU at CU-Boulder.
Wilson teaches a recitation for the Presidents Leadership Class as a class adviser, and is a member of Phi Sigma Tau, the philosophy honor society. He is a member of the Honors Department Review Committee, an active member of the Undergraduate Academy and plays intramural volleyball and soccer.
He plans to work as a staff attorney for the national ACLU office in New York City on the Gay and Lesbian Rights Project and to work on litigation "to overturn the bans against same-sex marriage that exist throughout our nation," according to his application. He plans to attend the New York University School of Law, pursuing a joint law degree and a doctorate in law and political philosophy, and to become a law professor specializing in civil rights law.
Sucherman stepped in as a co-chair of CU-Boulder's International Women's Week last fall to ensure that the 25-year-old campus conference would continue this spring, when it looked as though 2001 would mark its end. Largely through her efforts, money was raised for the conference and volunteers were recruited to help plan and implement the conference titled "Natives, Aliens and Immigrants; The Politics of Borders."
Sucherman is a volunteer for the Boulder Valley Women's Health Center and Women's Choice of Boulder Valley; a volunteer and member of the advisory board for CU's Women's Resource Center; a member of the new student chapter of the ACLU; and a member of the student Honors Department Advisory Board. She also has worked as a peer educator for middle school students and as a tutor for Boulder's Family Learning Center.
Sucherman wants to work to ensure that the rights of women and children refugees and asylum seekers are given protection and hopes to obtain a fellowship to work with Human Rights Watch as a field researcher or on-site investigator. She also hopes to do human rights advocacy work for Amnesty International or Women for Women International.
The 2001 Truman Scholars will meet May 20 at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., for a weeklong leadership development program and will receive their awards in a ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., on May 27.
This year's Truman Scholars were chosen by 19 independent selection panels. The panels typically include a university president, a federal judge, a distinguished public servant and a past Truman Scholarship winner. The panels interview finalists from a three- or four-state region and elect one scholar from each state and one or two at-large scholars from the region.
The Truman Scholarship was established by Congress in 1975 as a federal memorial to the 33rd U.S. president, Harry S. Truman. Since the first Truman Scholar awards were made in 1977, 2,099 Truman Scholars have been selected.