Schoeppel named 2014 Truman Scholar

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Agribusiness major earns prestigious award

Chacey Schoeppel, a junior at Oklahoma State University, has been named a 2014 Truman Scholar for her leadership, public service and academic achievement. An agribusiness major with a pre-law option, the honors student from Fairview is the 17th OSU student to receive the prestigious honor, which includes a $30,000 scholarship.

“The Truman application process has been a seven-month, multi-tiered process. I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough to those that have helped me along the way,” Schoeppel said. “I am honored to be a Truman Scholar, but even more honored to represent Oklahoma State, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and the Department of Agricultural Economics in this capacity."

Schoeppel is among 59 students nationwide who were chosen for the honor this year in a rigorous selection process that started with a group of more than 655 applicants from 293 colleges and universities. In addition to submitting proof of leadership, public service and academic achievement, the process requires a public policy proposal that addresses a particular issue in society.   

“We are very proud to congratulate Chacey as OSU's newest Harry S. Truman Scholar and also recognize her faculty mentor, Dr. Shannon Ferrell,” said Dr. Joshua Ward, director of the OSU Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research. “Through her outstanding leadership accomplishments, Chacey embodies true commitment to public service, an aspiration she will now realize even further as a Truman Scholar."

In addition to the scholarship, Schoeppel will receive leadership training, career and graduate school counseling and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Following her graduation from OSU, she plans to obtain a Juris Doctorate degree and pursue a career in public service. All Truman Scholars commit themselves to work in public service for three of the seven years following completion of a graduate degree program.
 
Schoeppel is a co-founder and director of the Ubuntu Youth Project, an after-school program in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, that provides tutoring, mentorship, agricultural education, and entrepreneurial skill development for secondary school students. The daughter of Kay Schoeppel and the late Jim Schoeppel, she is an active member of the Chi Omega Sorority and the Alumni Association's Student Alumni Board. Schoeppel has interned with the Office of Governor Mary Fallin and the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.
 
OSU students have been selected for this scholarship so many times that the university was designated as Oklahoma’s first Truman Honor Institution in 2000. OSU's Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research enhances undergraduate education opportunity through scholarship/fellowship success, undergraduate research, and international experience. For more information, phone (405) 744-7313 or go to www.okstate.edu/scholars.

Click here to watch a video with the 2014 Truman Scholar, Chacey Schoeppel.