The University of Texas at Austin is always proud to nominate extraordinary students for prestigious scholarships and fellowships, and this year is no exception!
Harry S. Truman Scholarship
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship awards up to $30,000 towards to a public service-related graduate degree to college juniors who demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, academic excellence and a commitment to improving how government agencies, nonprofit organizations or educational institutions serve the public. The university selected the following five students for consideration:
- Brynna Boyd (Plan II Honors, Communication and Leadership, African and African Diaspora Studies) serves as the President of the Black Students Honors Association, Co-chair of the Plan II Honors Student Association Diversity Committee, and the Director of External Affairs in Educational Enrichment of the Afrikan American Affairs Committee. She also served as an undergraduate research assistant for the African American Resilience in Context Lab, and an education policy fellow with the Every Texan Policy Fellowship Program.
- Rebecca Bryant (Humanities, with a Post-Cold War National Security concentration) is a fellow in UT’s Clements Center for National Security Undergraduate Fellowship program, a scholar in the Normandy Scholars Program, and an active member in both the International Affairs Society and the Students for Central and Eastern Europe organization. This summer, she will be participating in the Texas Intelligence Academy (TIA) and the King’s College Study Abroad program with the Clements Center for National Security.
- Nicholas Eastwood (Liberal Arts Honors, International Relations and Global Studies, Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies) is a leader in the Central Texas Model UN organization, served as the vice chair of the Texas Election Supervisory Board, and was a fellow in the Texas Civic Ambassador program and Congressional Bill Archer program. Locally, he serves as the Communications Director for Texas State Senator Donna Campbell, the youngest person to hold this position.
- Isaac James (Plan II Honors, Government) served two academic years as the director of the Queer and Trans Student Alliance and currently is a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on LGBTQIA+ Initiatives, campus ambassador for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and vice president of UT’s Senate of College Councils. He is also a research assistant for the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Lab and the Policy Coordinator for the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) of Austin.
- Roshan Khan (Plan II Honors, Government, Economics, International Relations and Global Studies, Asian Cultures and Languages – Chinese) participated in the Critical Language Scholarship Program in China, and currently works as an undergraduate research fellow for UT’s Department of Economics. She advocates for equity and inclusion with the Plan II Honors Student Association Diversity Committee, as well as environmental justice through the Rainforest Partnership and the Endangered Species Coalition – Stop Extinction Challenge, Austin Chapter.
Brynna Boyd and Nicholas Eastwood have been selected as finalists out of 845 applications from 328 colleges and universities. Award recipients will be announced in early April.
Beinecke Scholarship
For the Beinecke Scholarship, a highly competitive scholarship for college juniors who plan to enter a research-or creative-focused master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences, UT nominated Myrnalejandra Canales-Gutierrez (English, Iberian and Latin American Languages and Cultures). She has served as research assistant for two significant projects, UT’s Project SEED and UT’s Project JUNTOS, and conducts independent research focused on the intersecting themes of childhood and gender in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, comparing it with Spanish texts through the Andrew W. Mellon Engaged Scholars Initiative (ESI). As invested in civic engagement as she is in intellectual inquiry, Canales-Gutierrez has also volunteered as a swim instructor to youth and served as a notetaker for students with disabilities.
Each year, up to 20 new Beinecke scholarships are awarded out of approximately 135 nominations from across the U.S. Awards will be announced no later than May 1.
Lastly, for the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program, a one-year fellowship for graduating seniors and recent graduates that places them as research assistants to senior scholars of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., UT nominated the following three students:
- Rodney Ellis (Liberal Arts Honors, International Relations and Global Studies) is a founding member and treasurer of the Onyx Honor Society, the first Black honor society at UT, and has worked as a legislative intern for the United State Senate and as a policy intern for the Texas House of Representatives during his time as a student. He has also served as a campaign fellow for the Colin Allred Campaign, and a public relations fellow with Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Brussels, Belgium.
- Finlay Scalon (International Relations and Global Studies, with an Asian Studies and International Security concentration) is an undergraduate research fellow with the LBJ School of Public Affairs Center for Race and Democracy, a Community Engagement intern with the Refugee Services of Texas, and the Outreach and Service Director for the Central Texas Model United Nations. She has worked as an intern for the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Taiwan Institute of Sustainable Energy and given back to her community through organizations like Blood Brigade, which connects donors with blood banks during COVID-19 blood shortages.
- Amita Srinivasan (Psychology, Human Dimensions of Organization) has held leadership roles in various organizations, including Agency Director and Academic Policy Director of the UT Student Government, mentor for the Women of Excellence, and President of the DeafBlind Citizens in Action, a disability rights nonprofit organization. She has had multiple internship experiences and is currently working as a data analytics intern for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
We congratulate all these creative, ambitious Longhorns on their many accomplishments and wish them the best as they continue to change the world! To learn more about these and other awards, please visit the Office of Distinguished and Postgraduate Scholarships’ website or email odps@austin.utexas.edu.