THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS "JOINS" THE IVY LEAGUE WITH TWO TRUMAN SCHOLARS NAMED IN ONE YEAR

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas is among several Ivy League universities this year, being one of only a handful of institutions with two students named as Truman Scholars, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation announced today. This is the first time the University of Arkansas has boasted two Truman Scholars in a single year.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation awards up to $30,000 to each of the selected students -- $3,000 for the senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of graduate study. Along with the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship Programs, the Truman Program is deemed one of the most prestigious of the national scholarship programs in the country for undergraduates.

Angela Maxwell and Megan Ceronsky represent the University on this prestigious list of 65 students hailing from 54 colleges and universities throughout the country. These students were selected from among 230 finalists chosen from the original pool of 657 candidates.

"We are very pleased two of our outstanding undergraduate students have been selected as the 1999 Truman Scholars," said Chancellor John A. White. "Having two from the same university is very rare. The Truman Scholar selection demonstrates that our best students are competitive with the best in the nation.

"Megan Ceronsky and Angela Maxwell are to be commended on their accomplishments, and Dr. Suzanne McCray (associate director for the UA honors studies program) also deserves considerable credit for the success of our students. She has provided the encouragement, counseling and advising that has allowed our students to be very successful in the national competition. Her role in our success over the years is known and recognized by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation," White said.

The University of Arkansas and the U.S. Military Academy are the only two public institutions with two Truman Scholars. The only private institution with more than two scholars this year is Brown University with three.

Both UA scholars will be seniors in the fall of 1999 and are honors students in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Maxwell, of Baton Rouge, La., is majoring in international relations with a minor in Middle East Studies. She was recently elected to serve as the 1999-2000 UA Associated Student Government president.

"I am interested in either attending the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University or the Woodrow Wilson School of Foreign Policy at Princeton," Maxwell said.

"The faculty at the University of Arkansas has bent over backwards to help me through the Truman process. I have never encountered faculty so willing to help one student. Dr. Sidney Burris and Dr. Suzanne McCray gave me 110 percent of their attention and dedication. I would not be a Truman Scholar without their support and advice," she said.

Ceronsky of Arden Hills, Minn., is also an international relations major. She is currently studying at Cambridge.

Recent Truman Scholars from the University of Arkansas include: Lou Green (M.A. Harvard, 1997; currently studying at Tulane Law School), Jon Fernandez (M.A. Harvard, 1998) and Warwick Sabin (also a Marshall Scholar, currently studying at Oxford). All these students were four-year scholars in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Honors Studies Program. Green, Fernandez, Sabin and Ceronsky came to the University as Sturgis Fellows. Maxwell is a Middle East Studies scholarship recipient.

The University’s first Truman Scholar was Cindy Jessen in 1978. Earnest Brown Alsor represents the University as a 1990 Truman Scholar.

In addition, the University will host a major national conference this summer sponsored by the Truman and Marshall Scholarship Programs.

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