Junior earns Truman award

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation selected junior Lindsey Wallace as one of its 60 scholarship recipients Tuesday.

The prestigious honor funds students who demonstrate leadership ability and intend to work in the public sector. Truman Scholars are granted $30,000 for graduate school, priority admission to some programs as well as leadership training and counseling resources.

“I’m very excited,” Wallace said. “I’m really passionate about the issues that I want to work on concerning animal welfare, child welfare [and] other nonprofit ventures.”

Wallace said she is particularly interested in working with policymakers in Durham County to advocate for animal welfare. The county faces problems with animal overpopulation, she said, and needs to reform ineffective policy. Wallace would like to eventually continue that work on the state and national levels.

“[Animal overpopulation is] a big problem across the United States, not just in North Carolina,” she said.

A psychology and political science double major, Wallace plans to pursue a joint law degree and master’s in public policy studies. She would like to study at either Georgetown University or Duke—two schools with particularly strong programs, Wallace said.

To qualify for the scholarship, Wallace had to compete with her Duke peers to receive one of the University’s four nominations. She estimated that 25 Duke students completed the application, about half of whom received interviews.

“Duke has so many qualified nominees that there’s a lot of internal competition to even get to [apply for] the Truman,” Wallace said. “I think that [the other Duke candidates] should get some recognition as well. It’s a very difficult process overall.”