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Release date: May 10, 2004 Leadership and Service Net $20,000 Award for Graduate
The Lucius Lamar McMullan Award, endowed by Emory alumnus William L. Matheson in honor of his uncle, is given to a graduating senior who exhibits "outstanding citizenship, exceptional leadership and potential for service to his or her community, the nation and the world." The donor's intention is to allow a student to do something he or she wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Rithmire received the award during Emory's 159th commencement May 10, as well as dual degrees -- a bachelor's in Chinese studies and international studies, and a master's in political science. The Phi Beta Kappa scholar, who also made the dean's list every semester, managed to accrue an impressive academic record while working 40 hours a weeks as a waitress during most of her college career, plus volunteering on- and off-campus. "I am truly humbled to receive this award. I deeply appreciate not only the money, but the honor as well. Emory has been an outstanding and supportive community to be a part of," Rithmire says. Rithmire served as president of Emory's Young Democrats this past year, and on the Emory College Honor Council. She also served as a volunteer judge for the Barkley Forum, Emory's renowned debate program. She plans to spend part of her award on a scholarship for a high school student to attend the Emory National Debate Institute this summer. "Debate made a huge difference in my life in high school, and I want to give a young student the opportunity to experience it," she says. A Goodrich C. White Scholar for the past three years, she is a member of Phi Sigma Iota national language honor society and Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society. She also received the 2004 Eliot Levitas Award as the best all-around political science graduate at Emory. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Rithmire has studied and conducted research in China three times. Through Emory's Institute for Comparative and International Studies, she received a grant and did independent field work in Beijing and surrounding areas last fall. She spent fall of 2002 in a study abroad program where she took intensive language courses and taught English to elementary school students. She also spent the summer of 2001 at Shaanxi Normal University in China. She will attend Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government next year, where she has received the Karl Deutsch Prize Fellowship, to begin work on a doctorate in politics and government. She plans to study the politics of economic development, and the origins and the consequences of political and economic reform in the developing world, particularly in China and Asia. During her time at Emory, Rithmire also served as an academic tutor with Volunteer Emory at the Newcomer's Network Refugee School in Clarkston, Ga., and as an Emory READ volunteer tutor. As a member of Emory's Foreign Policy Exchange executive board, Rithmire led student discussions on the war in Iraq, and helped coordinate and spoke at the university-wide Campus on the Quad events in 2003 and 2004. Rithmire is the daughter of Maxine Rithmire of Lilburn, Ga. (30047), and a graduate of Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga. ### **** Note to Editors: A photo of Rithmire at graduation is available. Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system. |
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copyright 2001
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