Three Brown students receive Truman scholarships for public service

Seth Andrew, of Providence, Jonathan Mooney, of Culver City, Calif., and Katherine Weisburd, of Philadelphia, are among 65 college students nationwide to receive 1999 Truman Scholarships. This year, 656 college students were nominated for the awards.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Three students at Brown University have won $30,000 Truman Scholarships in recognition of their leadership ability, academic achievement and commitment to public service. Brown is the only university to have three students named as Truman scholars this year.

Seth A. Andrew, of Providence, R.I., Jonathan T. Mooney, of Culver City, Calif., and Katherine R. Weisburd, of Philadelphia, Pa., are among 65 scholarship winners, chosen from a pool of 656 candidates from 332 colleges and universities. Each will receive $3,000 in their senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of graduate study.

The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the official federal memorial to honor the nation's 33rd president. The Foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or other public service.

Brown's 1999 scholarship recipients, all members of the Class of 2000:

• Seth Andrew, 20, is a public policy and urban studies concentrator who plans to pursue a master's degree in public policy and a doctorate in education. He became committed to public service while serving as a page for Rep. Charles B. Rangel in 1994-95. Last year, Andrew ran for R.I. state representative, losing narrowly to the incumbent. Andrew serves on the R.I. Commissioner of Education's Charter School Review Team. He participated in a 1998 statewide study of access to public records, which won a public service award from Common Cause of R.I., and attended the 1998 Challenge of Modern Democracy Conference at the University of Chicago. After completing graduate studies, Andrew plans to teach government, history and civics at a charter school in Providence and serve in the R.I. General Assembly.
  
  
• Jonathan Mooney, 22, is an English concentrator who plans to pursue a joint graduate degree in education and fine arts, focusing on the effects of educational policy on the lives of children. Mooney co-founded Project Eye-to-Eye, a program pairing learning disabled Brown students with their elementary counterparts in a one-on-one mentoring and tutoring relationship. Dyslexic himself, Mooney serves on the University's Disabilities Support Committee and the New England Disabled Student Lecture Board. He is co-authoring a book about succeeding in school with a learning disability. Mooney would like to enter public service to help the 30 to 50 million learning disabled in this country and work at the U.S. Department of Education in the Office of Special Education Programs. After completing graduate studies, he plans to expand Project Eye-to-Eye to the national level and begin writing a second book about adults with learning disabilities.
  
  
• Katherine Weisburd, 20, is a public policy and American institutions concentrator who plans to pursue a degree in public interest law. She is co-author of a handbook of advice and legal rights for and by inmates of the R.I. Training School and is a legal assistant for plaintiff's counsel for those juvenile inmates. At Brown, she co-founded a playwriting group, serves on the College Curriculum Council, and participated in a 1998 statewide study of access to public records, which won a public service award from Common Cause of R.I. She would like to enter public service to advocate for more effective juvenile justice policies and work with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. After completing graduate studies, Weisburd plans to work in a public interest law organization on specific cases that address children's rights.

The 1999 Truman Scholarship recipients will assemble May 23 at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., for a week-long leadership development program, during which they will receive their awards.

Candidates were selected by an 18-member committee composed of senior officials from academe, public service and former Truman Scholarship recipients. Leadership abilities, academic performance and potential, community service records, and a demonstrated commitment to public service were all selection factors, according to foundation officials.

Two Brown seniors were previous recipients of Truman Scholarships and are completing their work at Brown: Jasmine Waddell of Lee's Summit, Mo., and Thaddeus Heuer of Holliston, Mass. In addition, Brown President E. Gordon Gee was appointed by President Clinton in 1995 to a five-year term as a trustee of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Trustees do not participate in the selection process.

Additional information on Truman Scholarships is available at the Truman Web site.