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KATERINE BLAUVELT OF ST. CLOUD, MN, SELECTED AS 2001 TRUMAN SCHOLAR
MAY 14, 2001--Oberlin College junior Katherine Blauvelt is one of 80 students chosen from 56 undergraduate institutions nationwide to receive a $30,000 scholarship from the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The finalists, selected from among 592 candidates nominated by 303 colleges and universities, were chosen by 19 independent selection panels on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability, and the likelihood of "making a difference."
Blauvelt, who is majoring in history and politics, has been confronting the problems generated by poverty and inequality since she was in high school. She began as a volunteer in a City Council campaign when she was 13; at 15, she and her twin brother worked on Paul Wellstone’s second senate race as interns. Later, working with Legal Services in St. Cloud--first as a volunteer, and then as a staff member--Blauvelt became aware of "what economic inequality does to the lives of desperate people who deserve the opportunity to make decent lives for themselves."
"Ever since then I've tried to find ways to reduce economic and political inequality and help people take more control over the conditions that shape their lives and their communities," Blauvelt says.
Blauvelt says she was drawn to Oberlin partly because of the College’s tradition of support for radical reform. As a first-year student, she helped organize the College's Grassroots Leadership Development Program’s annual housing fair and was subsequently elected to its board of directors. She also was involved with the Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC) and its efforts to lobby Oberlin College President Nancy Dye to sign an Anti-Sweatshop Code of Purchasing. As a member of SLAC, Blauvelt persuaded the college administration to join the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC), and was then appointed to the Purchasing Committee. She has served as chair of the committee for a year and a half, representing the college at meetings in New York and Chicago.
While at Oberlin, Blauvelt became interested in learning about the problems of making good housing affordable and fostering community development. This past fall, she conducted an extensive study of the City of Lorain’s support of development of affordable housing. Currently, she is in London studying constitutional law and the housing policies of Tony Blair’s government.
Blauvelt intends to make housing the focus of her graduate study in public policy, and will work in Washington, D.C., as an intern for Citizens for Tax Justice. However, after graduating from Oberlin, she plans to take "at least a year off to get more practical experience in community development at the local or regional level," before moving on to obtaining a joint degree: a JD in public interest law and a Masters in Public Affairs.
The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd President, and it awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. Truman scholars receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at certain premier graduate institutions, in addition to leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government.
Media Contact: Sue Kropp
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