NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt junior Jenny Magill has been named recipient of two of the nation’s most prestigious honors scholarships. Magill, a secondary education and history major from Atlanta, has been named both a 2006 Harry S. Truman Scholar and a 2006 Morris K. Udall Scholar.
She competed with candidates from hundreds of other colleges and universities for the awards from the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation and the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation.
Magill said the good news still hasn’t quite sunk in. “I am incredibly honored and excited to have received both the Truman and the Udall scholarships, and I still cannot quite believe that this has really happened! Both Truman and Udall are incredible programs that will provide me with a rich variety of experiences and opportunities to develop my leadership skills, gain valuable knowledge about environmental and social issues and become part of a network of amazing individuals with similar goals and values,” she said.
Magill’s goal is to pursue a master’s degree in environmental education and policy. She hopes to explore the interconnection between environmental and human development issues, including poverty, hunger and violence, and to empower those without a voice in society to have input into the development of their own communities. After completing her master’s degree, she aspires to work either as a high school teacher or as an educator and advocate in a nontraditional educational setting, such as with a nonprofit organization or with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Environmental Education.
A fixture on the Vanderbilt Dean’s List and a member of numerous honorary societies, Magill, a Peabody Honor Scholar and a History Honors student, is a recipient of the Academic Achievement and Dean’s Achievement scholarships through Peabody College.
She is a leader in campus sustainability initiatives, and she is president and co-founder of Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Recycling (SPEAR). She has mentored incoming freshmen, leading them in pre-orientation service projects with area non-profit organizations through the DoreWays Big Horizons program, an organization of which she now is student director. She also is co-president of the Vanderbilt Running Club and still finds time to volunteer at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
The Truman Foundation awarded 75 scholarships for the 2006-07 academic year, out of a pool of 598 candidates. Scholars were elected on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood of “making a difference.”
The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 to memorialize the 33rd president of the United States. The foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or other public service. Each scholarship provides $30,000 for graduate study.
Magill will join her fellow Truman Scholars for a week-long leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., in May, and, afterward, she will receive her award at a ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo.
As a Udall Scholar, Magill joins 79 other honorees who each earn up to $5,000 in scholarships. The Udall Foundation selected the winners from among 445 candidates committed to careers in the environment, health care or tribal public policy, making its decisions on the basis of leadership potential and academic achievement.
The Udall Foundation was authorized by Congress in 1992 to honor Rep. Morris K. Udall’s legacy of public service. Udall, who served in the House of Representatives for three decades, was a champion of the environment and of the rights of Native Americans and Alaska natives.
The Udall Scholars will convene in August in Tucson, Ariz., to receive their awards and meet policymakers and environmental and tribal health care and governance leaders.
Magill said she is excited about attending the two summer leadership programs. “While attending the leadership weeks for both scholarships, I will be able to meet and develop lasting relationships with my fellow scholars and national leaders in environmental and public policy fields, and I will have the opportunity to participate in group exercises to examine important issues and practice developing actual policy proposals,” she said.
Magill will return to Vanderbilt in the fall to begin her senior year of study after spending the summer as an educational intern for the Heifer Project at one of its interactive learning centers. The Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark., is a hands-on learning center providing education that promotes sustainable solutions to global hunger, poverty and environmental degradation.
Through her summer job, Magill will fulfill a childhood dream of working hands-on with this organization about which she is extremely passionate. “My mother introduced me to the Heifer Project when I was growing up, and, as a child, I loved the simple idea of being able to connect with children and families around the world through farm animals. I began to make gift donations for a pig, a cow or a flock of chicks to relatives and friends during the holidays or for birthdays, and I learned more about Heifer as I grew up.
“As part of their two-fold goal of ending world hunger and poverty and saving the environment, Heifer’s programs do a wonderful job of demonstrating the essential interconnection between environmental and social justice. I have never been to their living-learning ranch before, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with them this summer,” she said.
Media contact: Susanne Hicks, (615) 322-NEWS
susanne.hicks@vanderbilt.edu