Two Harvard Sophomores Snag Truman Scholarships

They're not the Wright brothers, they're not even the Wright sisters--the R. Wright '87 and Melissa W. Wright '87 are definitely on the right track. They are the only two Harvard undergraduates from among 105 students nationwide who were awarded prestigious Truman Scholarships last week.

The Scholarship, worth $20,000 over the next four years, is annually awarded to students who have demonstrated a potential for leadership in government on the basis of their grades and participation in community service projects. Application essays and an interview are also required, said Norma R. Claytor, a staff member at the Truman Scholarship Foundations.

Two scholars are chosen from each state and additional winners are selected by 13 regional panels across the country, added Claytor. This year, a total of 848 students applied for the 105 available grants.

Larisa Wright speculated that she won the grant based on her international affairs work and involvement with the Washington state correctional system where she improved education programs for prisoners.

The Government major added that she tried to develop a program which gave the prisoners "the opportunity to pursue an education they would have never sought out by themselves." For prisoners indicted for non-violent, one-time offenses, she said "education is the best way to assure that they get out."

Texas Truman scholar Melissa Wright '87, a Social Studies concentrator, said here general focus has been on community-oriented work, ranging from working for Phillips Brooks House to helping Central American immigrants in her home state.

She also said she has worked with Interlock Media in producing a radio documentary on Guatemala, which National Public Radio distributed. "[The program] is focused on the Indians and the problems they are facing, the indigenous people and the effect of policy on their communities," she added.

Eric E. Thompson '87 was named a Truman alternate, which, said an official in the Harvard Fellowship Office, doesn't entail any money, unless one of the Truman scholars from his state decides not to pursue his studies.

The Truman Scholarship was started in 1976 by Congress as a memorial to President Harry S. Truman, said Claytor. Congress the foundation has yet to one.