Rhodes College’s Postgraduate Scholarship Committee is endorsing three juniors to compete for the prestigious Truman Scholarship for 2018. They are Spencer Beckman, Dylan Craddock, and Anne Healy.
Beckman is an urban studies and religious studies major from Murfreesboro, TN; Craddock, an international studies and a Spanish major from Colorado Springs, CO; and Healy, an international studies major from Chevy Chase, MD.
In 1975, the Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress as a federal memorial to the 33rd president, Harry S. Truman. It provides generous financial support for graduate study in preparation for careers in government, public service, the nonprofit sector, or education. Winners will be announced in April.
Beckman plans to pursue a master’s degree in public health and in health administration. “After graduating from Rhodes, I will begin a career in public health policy that will allow me to work to address many of the structural inequalities that disproportionately impact the health of lower-income communities,” he says. “My time at Rhodes spent learning from Dr. Kendra Hotz, other urban and community health professors, and from experiences within the city of Memphis have all powerfully illustrated just how much more influence one’s zip code has over his or her health, as opposed to the traditional understanding that one’s genetic code most powerfully impacts his/her health.”
If awarded the Truman Scholarship, Craddock wants to use the scholarship to help fund graduate studies at Denver University’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “I will pursue a master’s in international development and self-designed a focus in Latin America and gender,” she says. “After graduate school, I hope to start in the non-profit sector focusing on development and female empowerment, then move to a research career at a think-tank such as the Woodrow Wilson Center, focusing in Latin America. I believe by beginning my career in the non-profit sector I would have a better perspective on the needs on communities I hope to research and write policy for in the future.”
Healy plans to attend Georgetown University. “I wish to enter a dual degree program to pursue a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy,” she says. “I want to use my Rhodes education and my future graduate education to advance women’s rights domestically and internationally. Eventually, I would like to work on Capitol Hill and, potentially, the White House as a staffer advising on women’s issues especially as it relates to the United States’ foreign policy.”
Truman Scholars will be announced in April.