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Two Lafayette students, Ryan Beattie ’05 of Worthington, Mass., and Hart Feuer ’05 of Portland, Ore., have been selected as finalists in the 2004 Harry S. Truman Scholarship competition.
Beattie, a double major in international affairs and Spanish, and Feuer, a double major in economics & business and German, are among 200 finalists representing 134 U.S. colleges and universities.
The Truman Scholarship is a $26,000 merit-based federal grant awarded to undergraduate students as financial support to attend graduate or professional school in preparation for careers in government, the non-profit sector or elsewhere in public service. Established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to the nation’s 33rd president, the Truman Scholarship Foundation is governed by a board of trustees appointed by the President and Congress and endowed by a $55 million trust fund in the U.S. Treasury.
Finalists are selected on the basis of the extent and quality of their community service and government involvement, leadership record, academic performance and writing and analytical skills, and suitability of their proposed program of study for a career in public service.
Beattie and Feuer are scheduled to be interviewed by a Truman regional selection panel next month, Beattie in Oxford, England (because he is studying in Madrid, Spain, this year), and Feuer in San Francisco. Regional panels select Truman Scholars largely on the basis of leadership potential and communication skills, intellectual strength and analytical ability, and likelihood of “making a difference” in public service.
The 2004 Truman Scholars will be announced March 29. Last year 76 students representing 63 schools were selected as 2003 Truman Scholars out of a total of 635 candidates nominated by 305 institutions.
Beattie plans to pursue advanced degrees in international affairs/international relations and have a career in the U.S. Foreign Service. He has a particular interest in Latin America.
As a first-year student he presented his research on who was responsible for the Reichstag fire of 1933 at the 16th National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The study evolved from his work in the First-Year Seminar Crisis of Culture in the Making of the Modern German Nation taught by Edward McDonald, professor of foreign languages and literatures.
During the summer between his first and second years at Lafayette, Beattie studied at Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico, where he also did volunteer work with Mexican orphans. He has participated in several community-service programs through Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center and served as a tour guide and student host for the Office of Admissions.
Last year Feuer was one of 80 students nationally to receive a Morris K. Udall Scholarship. Authorized by Congress in 1992 to honor Congressman Morris Udall and his legacy of public service, the Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation awards scholarships of up to $5,000 to juniors and seniors in fields related to the environment, and to Native American and Alaska natives in fields related to health care or tribal policy.
Feuer intends to spend four years working to address environmental problems in Cambodia directly following graduation from Lafayette, then pursue a master’s degree in international affairs focusing on Southeast Asia and Cambodia. He hopes eventually to coordinate development research and programs in a Southeast Asian country.
Feuer is president of the student organization LEAP, Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection, and treasurer of Hillel Society. He is a participant in the McKelvy House Scholars Program, which brings together students of high academic achievement and promise to reside in a historic off-campus house and share in intellectual and social activities, and a member of German Club and Investment Club.