SGA president is Truman Scholar finalist

By Amy Geiszler-Jones

Borrowing the philosophy that it takes a village to raise a child, several people in the WSU community have been helping a student leader in his quest to win a coveted, national Truman Scholarship.

When WSU Student Government Association president Jason Bennett gets his 20 minutes March 8 to impress a regional selection panel, he’ll probably remember pointers given to him by WSU faculty and staff and other community members.

If he finds a panelist doesn’t agree with an answer he gives, he can recall the advice of A.J. Mandt, director of the Emory Lindquist Honors program: It’s OK to have an opinion different from the panelists and to state that on that point you’ll have to agree to disagree.

He’ll remember former Congressional staffer and Wichita Eagle editorial writer Myrne Roe’s advice to show spark and passion when he responds to questions, particularly those about his policy paper on water management.

He’ll probably remind himself that while the panelists are asking their questions, it’s his 20 minutes, so he can frame his responses by explaining why he’s giving a certain type of answer – just like Sharon Iorio, a commucations expert and associate dean of liberal arts and sciences, told him to.

Bennett, a junior in biological sciences, decided to go after a Truman Scholarship following a conversation with Jim Rhatigan, WSU senior vice president.

Since making that decision, the Goddard High School graduate has gotten help from a number of WSU faculty and staff in his bid for the Truman Scholarship, a $30,000 merit-based grant given to college juniors to attend graduate school to prepare for public service careers in government, the nonprofit sector or elsewhere. Part of the package helps pay for the student’s senior year, as well.

The scholarships are a federal memorial to America’s 33rd president and have been awarded since 1977. Generally one scholar from each state and one or two at-large scholars from a region are selected.

As the designated university representative for Truman Scholarship applicants, Mandt helped organize a review committee and two mock-interview panels of WSU faculty, staff and community members.

Rhatigan, Iorio, Marty Shawver from academic affairs and WSU general counsel Ted Ayres reviewed Bennett’s application packet before endorsing his nomination. Former Wichita Eagle writer John Roe; LAS adviser Bob Rozzelle; continuing education director Charlotte Howard; and associate professor of physics Elizabeth Behrman grilled Bennett in one mock interview session, while Iorio, Myrne Roe, political science professor Mel Kahn, and associate dean of the Barton School of Business Nancy Bereman participated in a second one.

"It’s helpful to get different perspectives of how people make evaluations and what comments are favorable or not," says Bennett, who plans to run for re-election as SGA president.

As part of the application process, Bennett researched and developed a policy paper. A biologist focusing on ecology, he chose water management, tackling the problem that the region is withdrawing water from the Ogalala aquifer, the U.S.’ largest underground water supply stretching from Nebraska to Texas, faster than it’s being replaced.

During one mock interview session, Mandt advised Bennett, who has volunteered for the past 10 years at the Sedgwick County Zoo, to "show off your biology knowledge," because it’s not the typical discipline for students pursuing the Truman Scholarship.

Bennett, along with 12 other finalists from Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, goes before panelists in Kansas City, Mo.

Ryan Schaefer, who studied engineering, was WSU’s last Truman Scholar in 1998.