FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 10, 2000 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 DRAKE STUDENT NAMED TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP FINALIST Sheila R. McCoy, a junior at Drake University and a resident of Merrill, Iowa, has been selected as a finalist in the 2000 Truman Scholarship competition. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation awards merit-based $30,000 scholarships to college students who plan to pursue careers in government or elsewhere in public service, and wish to attend graduate or professional school to help prepare for their careers. This year, 599 students from 309 colleges and universities were nominated for Truman Scholarships. McCoy is among the 219 chosen as finalists from 146 colleges and universities. The foundation expects to award 75 to 80 Truman Scholarships this year. She will be interviewed Monday, March 13, in Minneapolis along with three other finalists from Iowa. If she receives a Truman Scholarship, McCoy will become the fifth Drake student to be named a Truman Scholar since 1990. Drake's most recent Truman Scholar is former Student Body President Todd Sechser, a 1998 Drake graduate. "I am, of course, very excited to be a finalist," McCoy said. "It's an honor to make it this far." "The Truman Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship in the United States," said Julian Archer, professor of history and the Truman faculty representative on the Drake campus. "Being a Truman Scholar is comparable to being a Rhodes Scholar in England." McCoy is a 1997 graduate of LeMars Community High School in LeMars, Iowa, and the recipient of a Carpenter Scholarship, which covers full tuition at Drake. She has achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 4.0 while majoring in English, political science and international relations. Professor Archer describes McCoy as a student "who combines her intellectual prowess with well-focused activism that has led to a variety of political and social involvement. Her commitment to practical politics is highlighted by her working with Drake Democrats and culminating in her being president this year, as well as secretary of the Iowa Young Democrats. Her reformist (I might even say idealist) inclination is seen in her work with the Model United Nations (head delegate and vice president) and being the director of Dr. Debra DeLaet's Model World Conference on Human Rights." McCoy also serves as a member and curriculum chair of the Honors Student Council Executive Council, editor of the Drake University Social Sciences Journal and president of the Phi Alpha Theta History Fraternity. In addition, she is the sole student representative on the search committee for a new university provost. "There is something else about Sheila, however, that cannot be uncovered by a list of organizations or a course transcript," Archer said. "It is her dedication to finding effective, workable solutions to human rights abuses." McCoy intends to enlist in the Peace Corps after graduating from Drake University next year. After completing her Peace Corps service, she hopes to enroll in New York University's Global Law School Program. Once she has earned her law degree, she would like to continue her studies at the University of Notre Dame Law School Center for Civil and Human Rights. Upon completing her graduate studies, she is interested in starting her legal career with the Latin American/Caribbean Protection Program, a branch of the Lawyers Commission for Human Rights. The program's principal mission is to provide legal counsel to human rights proponents whose politically charged work puts them at risk of becoming victims of rights abuses.