Emory Junior Hetal Doshi Named Truman Scholar

Emory junior Hetal Doshi, daughter of Janak and Sohag Doshi of Vestavia Hills, Ala. (35216), has been awarded a Harry S. Truman Scholarship for graduate study in preparation for a career in government or public service. Doshi plans to pursue a law degree, with the long-term goal of working on women's rights and Islamic legal issues.

Truman Scholars are selected on three criteria: extensive records of public service, commitment to careers in government or other public service, and outstanding leadership and communication skills. Doshi certainly fits the bill: She is the newly elected College Council president with a long track record of public service and academic success. As a member of Emory's nationally ranked debate team, the Barkley Forum, and a national debate champion in her own right, Doshi is an active volunteer coach in the Urban Debate League, a partnership between the Barkley Forum and the Atlanta and Decatur City schools.

Her interest in women's issues and human rights has Doshi active in the National Organization for Women, Habitat for Humanity and Amnesty International. She also is involved in many campus organizations and is an executive board member of her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, as well as the co-founder of Emory's Ad Hoc Committee on DUI and Alcohol Abuse. Doshi is a member of the Young Democrats of Emory University, the President's Commission on the Status of Women, Omicron Delta Kappa leadership and service honor society, Omicron Delta Epsilon economics honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society and Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha debate honor society.

After being notified of Doshi's designation as a Truman Scholar, Joanne Brzinski, assistant dean of Emory College, asked Doshi to meet with her to deliver the good news, but Doshi was expecting the worst. "I thought I'd been disqualified since everyone else had heard one way or another. I thought I'd be getting bad news," Doshi says.

"Hetal is clearly a serious student who has done extremely well and possesses enormous potential," says Brzinski. "Her extracurricular activities strongly suggest that she's fully committed to her community, wherever she may be."

This commitment is evident in Doshi's desire to address women's issues. In her application essay Doshi wrote, "In the last century, American women have benefited from political and economic gains; however, women in other states remain oppressed without the recognition of basic freedoms. Femicide, honor killings, and female genital mutilation in the Middle East continue to subjugate women." Doshi plans to apply for the Truman program's 2001 Washington Summer Institute, and hopes to work with the senior coordinator for international women's issues in the State Department. She plans to study abroad, then hopes to enter Harvard Law School's Islamic legal studies program.

Of the 599 candidates nominated by 311 colleges and universities, only 61 students were selected. Doshi's fellow Truman Scholars attend institutions such as Yale University, Stanford University, Brown University, Harvard University, Wellesley College, Columbia University, the U.S. Military Academy and Vassar College.

Each scholarship provides $30,000: $3,000 for the senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government.

The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd president. The foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. The activities of the foundation are supported by a special trust fund in the U.S. Treasury. There have been 2,003 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977.

For a complete list of the 2000 scholars and more information on the foundation, see www.truman.gov.