News Releases

Alma Joins Yale, Stanford, Duke With Four Truman Finalists

Four Alma College juniors are national finalists for the $30,000 Truman Scholarship.

• Kimberly Joki, a junior from Greenville, is a graduate of Greenville High School. She is the daughter of Kim and Deborah Joki.

• James Allen IV, a junior from Harbor Springs, is a graduate of Harbor Springs High School. He is the son of James III and Debra Allen.

• William Allen, a junior from Unionville, is a graduate of Valley Lutheran High School. He is the son of Rev. Michael and Lynda Allen.

• Drew Emge, a junior from Bay City, is a graduate of John Glenn High School. He is the son of Mark and Judith Emge.

Alma College, Yale University, Stanford University and Duke University are the only schools in the nation with four Truman finalists. The Truman Scholarship, the most prestigious national scholarship for college juniors, seeks to support students committed to pursuing a career devoted to public service. Alma College has had four Truman Scholarship winners and 14 finalists since 2000.

“Each institution is allowed to nominate four students for the Truman Scholarship, and it is extremely rare for any college or university to have three or four finalists,” says Derick Hulme, political science professor. “This is absolutely our strongest pool ever.”

The four Alma students will interview March 11 in Chicago with a scholarship committee and compete against 207 other finalists for approximately 75 scholarships.

Each of the 75 Truman Scholars receive $30,000 — $3,000 for their senior year of college and $27,000 for graduate school, law school or medical school.

Congress established the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975. The Foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government and public service. Truman scholars are selected by independent selection panels on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability, and likelihood of “making a difference.”

Alma’s Nationally Competitive Scholarship Committee helps finalists search for appropriate postgraduate scholarships and reviews their proposals and applications. Alma’s committee identifies and nurtures exceptional candidates for nationally competitive scholarships, grants and awards.

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Alma College boasts a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, a liberal arts approach to undergraduate education, 33 academic majors, self-designed programs of emphasis, pre-professional programs in law and medicine, and an intensive Spring Term that provides opportunities for innovative courses, travel classes, research and internships.

 

Graduate Profile

Austin Mitchell

Austin Mitchell
Graduation: 2007
Major: Elementary Education

Having long admired his mother’s work as an elementary teacher, it’s no wonder Austin Mitchell ’07 followed in her footsteps.

The fourth-grade math teacher recently was selected as one of 1,100 teachers across the nation to receive surprise donations of school supplies from Office Max and Food Lion Grocery Stores.

Nominated by the principal of his Virginia elementary school for “going beyond the call of duty,” Mitchell says the education faculty members at Alma College, including Peggy Thelen, Janet Navarro and Mark Seals, are a big part of the teacher he is today.