Manship junior selected as Truman Scholarship finalist
02/24/2016
Manship junior Joanie Lyons has been selected as one of three LSU finalists for the prestigious Truman Scholarship. Lyons will interview on Friday, March 18, in Denver, Co. and Truman Scholarship recipients will be announced on Friday, April 22.
“Being selected as a national finalist for the 2016 Harry S. Truman Scholarship means so much to me,” said Lyons. “I have known since I was a freshman that I was going to be applying for the Truman and I dedicated much of my time working to achieve this goal of becoming a finalist. Over the past three years I’ve spent constant hours trying to serve the LSU and Baton Rouge community as a leader, challenged myself in academia, and worked on perfecting my application to its highest caliber. This achievement signifies that hard work truly pays off, but my work will only continue for the next month so that I can consider myself a Truman Scholar in the near future,” she said.”
All three finalists are part of the Louisiana Service and Leadership (LASAL) Scholars Program, which prepares Ogden Honors College students for leadership roles in Louisiana, particularly in the fields of public service, social justice and environmental sustainability. LASAL courses emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving and research applied to real-world issues, workplace experience and discovery. Through the LASAL program, students develop an appreciation for society’s complex problems and a passion for solving them.
“The Manship School helped me in becoming a Truman finalist in many ways,” said Lyons. “The Manship Knight Grant helped me create a social media and social advocacy campaign geared at educating the public on cyclist and pedestrian safety issues throughout the state of Louisiana. My social media and social advocacy campaign played a critical role in my service throughout the past year, and also was a major talking point in my Truman application. As well, I also noted my work at the Public Policy Research lab, a portion of the Manship School’s Media Effects Lab, my student Government representation as a Manship School of Mass Communication Senator, my representation on the Student Media Board, and my service to the Manship school as a Manship Ambassador in my application. I am sure that without these opportunities the Manship School granted me to participate in, I would not be in the position where I am today.”
Truman Scholars are offered up to $30,000 for graduate study and are required to work in public service for three of the seven years following completion of their graduate work. To be eligible to apply, students must indicate a desire to work in government, education, the nonprofit sector or the public interest sector, and must have a demonstrated commitment to service. In addition, the scholarship application process requires students to create a public policy that addresses a current public issue.
To read more about the policies proposed by the finalists, visithttp://www.honors.lsu.edu/news/change-agents-1.