Contact: Sammy McDavid
A 21-year-old Mississippi State senior is among nearly 80 university students named Thursday [March 26] as national Harry S. Truman Scholars.
Brad Sweet of Cleveland, who last week was elected 1998-99 Student Association president, is the 14th MSU representative to receive the highly competitive honor since 1980. A 1995 Cleveland High School graduate, he is majoring in political science and history.
Congress established the Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975 as the official federal memorial to America's 33rd president. Students chosen to receive the $30,000 award must have demonstrated both outstanding leadership potential and a strong desire to pursue careers in government or other public service areas.
Sweet, son of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Sweet, plans to pursue a master's degree in international relations after graduating next year. His eventual educational goal is a doctoral degree that encompasses a dual interest in national security and Latin America.
A member of the S.A. Senate for the past two years, Sweet previously received a John C. Stennis Scholarship in Political Science and several other academic awards.
Saying he long has had "an avid interest in politics," Sweet told the scholarship selection committee that his experiences in MSU student government "have taught me the importance of meeting our obligations to public service." Looking beyond a public service career, he also expressed a desire to teach in high school or college after retirement.
"I always have had a genuine respect for my most dedicated instructors and would find it very fulfilling to have the same impact on students that they had on me," he said.
"Brad Sweet is one of those rare students who is intellectually gifted and intensely interested in public service," said Christopher M. Duncan, associate professor of political science and coordinator of the university's Distinguished External Scholarship Program.
"The committee put him through a rigorous selection and preparation process over the past seven months and he never quit," Duncan said. "Because of the extensive effort he put into completing the application and preparing for the interviews, I cannot imagine a more deserving student for such a prestigious award."