Source: James Hohenbary, 785-532-6904, jimlth@k-state.edu
Photos available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-2535.
News release prepared by: Jennifer Torline, 785-532-0847, jtorline@k-state.edu

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TWO STUDENTS NAMED TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University students Melanie Hall, Junction City, and McKenzie Snow, Wichita, have advanced to the final round of the 2011 Harry S. Truman Scholarship competition.

Hall and Snow will interview March 7 in Kansas City, Mo., with other finalists from Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Truman scholarship winners will be announced March 31.

The Truman Scholarship is a national competition that provides up to $30,000 for graduate study to students committed to future careers in public service. Between 60 and 65 scholarship are awarded each year.

Hall and Snow were among 197 candidates from 134 colleges and universities who were chosen as finalists, according to the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. More than 600 students from 264 colleges and universities applied for this year's competition.

With 32 K-State students winning Truman Scholarships since the program began in 1977, K-State ranks first in the nation among 500 state universities.

Hall is a senior in psychology and premedicine with certification in conflict resolution. In summer 2010 she went on a service-learning trip to volunteer at an autism unit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in Africa. She has worked with Matthew Palmatier, assistant professor of psychology, to research the pharmacological effects of caffeine. The past three years she has presented the research at the Society for Neuroscience's international convention. Hall is an ambassador for non-traditional and veteran student services, a study abroad mentor and a member of K-State's Golden Key chapter. She is also an undergraduate research assistant in psychobiology, a tutor with USD 475 and an applied behavior analysis provider for children diagnosed with autism. Hall has received a scholarship to study peace and conflict in Northern Ireland. A 2001 graduate of Junction City High School, she is the daughter of Thomas and Cynthia Hall, Junction City.

Snow is a senior in political science and pre-law. She is a College of Arts and Sciences senator with the K-State Student Governing Association, vice chair of the College Council allocation committee, College of Arts and Sciences ambassador and vice president of Chimes, the junior honorary. Snow is also a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, the K-State honors program, the dean of student life's advisory committee and the University Committee on Governmental Issues. She is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar who will pursue a master's degree in Sweden in fall 2011 and a Chapman Scholar who served and studied in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. She received a spring 2010 Undergraduate Fellowship for the Study of Classical Liberalism, among other scholarships and awards. She recently completed a congressional internship, serves as the student coordinator of Manhattan Good Neighbors and is a volunteer with the Riley County Court Appointed Special Advocates. Snow graduated from Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in 2008 and is the daughter of Windell Snow and Brenda Gerleman-Snow, Wichita.