Born to Lead: Student Has Heart for Public Service

[April 17, 2008 press release about UHP Member Jon Gaffney]

MOSCOW, Idaho – Many leaders who make a difference in this world spent their formative years developing their skills in college. University of Idaho alumni take their success to leadership levels at the local, state and national levels, such as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Jon Gaffney, president of the Associated Students of the University of Idaho, plans to follow in their footsteps and personifies the legacy of leading for which the university is known. He graduates this May with dual degrees in mathematics and history, along with minors in Spanish and philosophy. He also shall receive the University Honors Program Certificate.

Following commencement, Gaffney plans to continue his civic engagement and public service through volunteer efforts.

"Albert Einstein once said, 'Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile,'" Gaffney said. "At the end of the day, the only real question should be, 'Did I make a difference for someone today?'"

Beyond serving as ASUI president, Gaffney has worked for the ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action and provided assistance during the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival every year since high school. This past year, Gaffney was part of the university's first international volunteer group, which traveled to Peru to construct a youth center.

Gaffney also pushed for a feasibility study on the second phase of the university's Student Recreation Center. He has voiced student concerns and interests to the City of Moscow during the revision of its comprehensive plan, and he is working with ASUI Vice President Amy Huddleston to launch a nonprofit management degree program at the University of Idaho.

Gaffney's one complaint about the university? It doesn't get the recognition it deserves. "People do great things at this school that don't get recognized, either nationally or even statewide," said Gaffney.

Following commencement, Gaffney plans to attend law school. "I've been accepted to both Georgetown University and George Washington University Law schools," he said. He's also entertaining the possibility of working toward a doctorate.

Gaffney, a Moscow native and 2003 graduate of Moscow High School, feels he was born to be an "Idaho Vandal." Picking a college to attend after high school was not a difficult choice for him. He's a third-generation University of Idaho alum. "My grandparents, parents and now I have all graduated from this great university – it's in the blood," he said.

Gaffney also is a member of the UI's three-student math team that recently placed 46th out of more than 500 schools that competed in this year’s William Lowell Putnam Competition. The premier undergraduate mathematics competition takes three students from each competing school and pits their Putnam exam scores against one other to see which school fares the best.

“I’m thrilled that the University of Idaho team placed in the top 10 percent nationally on an exam where more than half the students who take it score zero points out of 120,” Gaffney said. “Seeing the university’s math students achieve this kind of success is incredible.”