April
5, 2002
Rachel
Brule ’03 Named Truman Scholar
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Rachel Brule ’03
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Rachel
Brule '03 has been named one of sixty-four students from fifty-four
United States colleges and universities who will receive the prestigious
Truman Scholarship this year, an award of $30,000 for graduate
school leading to a career in government or public service.
"For
as long as I can remember I have been passionate about living
my life in a way that would allow me to make a positive impact
on the world," said Brule. "I always understood that
the world was much larger than what I could see in upstate New
York," she said, explaining that her awareness of international
affairs came from childhood stories of the Philippines, where
her grandmother founded the first school for the blind and her
grandfather taught at a university.
Inspired
by positive experiences in her high school's Model United Nations
club, Brule spent the summer after her first year at Mount Holyoke
at the International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva, where
she sharpened her French skills and grew increasingly interested
in international policy. She subsequently studied African political
and economic development and pursued an internship at the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs, gaining insight
into African politics and developing democratization programs
for a range of central and West African countries. Brule's policy
proposal for the Truman competition, "Reintegration of Ex-Combatants
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," reflects her deepening
understanding of Africa's political challenges and the role of
the United States in meeting them.
All
this work Brule accomplished while serving as a writing mentor
and board member at the Weissman Center for Leadership, writing
for the student activist paper, The Catalyst, and serving in the
Student Government Association. She also participated in MHC's
Speech and Debate Society and in economic justice campaigns as
part of the College's Student Coalition for Action.
Brule
received word of the Truman award in Senegal, West Africa, where
she is spending her junior year studying African institutions,
Islamic philosophy, and Senegalese history, literature, and language
at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop. She is also conducting
research on the country's production of cotton to understand its
informal cloth market.
After
a final year of courses in international relations and economic
development at Mount Holyoke, Brule plans to attend Columbia University's
School of International and Public Affairs to pursue a master's
degree in international affairs with a concentration in economic
and political development. She hopes to compete for the State
Department's presidential management internship and ultimately
become involved in shaping America's policy on African development,
either with a U.S. Agency for International Development Africa
bureau or the African Affairs Bureau.
The
Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975
as the federal memorial to our thirty-third President. Truman
scholars are selected on the basis of leadership potential, communication
skills, intellectual ability, and likelihood of making a difference
in government or other public service. Each scholarship provides
$3,000 for the senior year of college and $27,000 for graduate
study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental
financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership
training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship
opportunities within the federal government. This year, 590 candidates
were nominated by 287 colleges and universities. Winners will
assemble May 19 for a weeklong leadership development program
at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and receive their
awards in a special ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence,
Missouri, on May 26.
Current
sophomores interested in applying for Truman Scholarships may
contact Katerina P. King, assistant director for fellowships and
scholarships, at kpking@mtholyoke.edu.
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