UI Undergrad Wins Major National Scholarship [original press release]

MOSCOW -- A University of Idaho junior from Meridian is among an elite group of students selected in a nationwide competition to receive a Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship to support the remainder of her undergraduate education.

Jessica M. Lipschultz, daughter of Lawrence and Carol Lipschultz, with a double major in English and American studies, has a perfect academic record and participates in the University Honors Program. She is a member of the Honors Student Advisory Board, the first chair of the Associated Students of the University of Idaho's Civic Engagement Committee, president of Alpha Phi Omega Service Organization, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars' vice president of community service, and has served as a page in the United States Senate.

Her application included reflections on her honors course of study and on her involvement with the ASUI Semester of Service Challenge, an analysis of Plato's "The Apology of Socrates," observations on art, friendship, and commitments to others, and a futuristic critical essay on life in the year 2020, focusing on the importance of literacy around the world.

The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Scholars Program is supported through a private foundation to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It identifies young people with overall excellence in academic endeavors and in extracurricular contributions, who demonstrate exceptional deportment and character. The Foundation awards up to 40 national scholarships to students of sophomore and junior standing. Accredited four-year colleges and universities were permitted to nominate one student each for this -- the first -- competition. The award amount is variable up to a maximum of $30,000 annually to fund the remainder of the scholar's undergraduate degree program.

Stephan Flores, director of the University Honors Program and the UI's institutional representative for the Cooke Scholarships, said that the award recognizes "Jessica's strong education at the UI and the Foundation's recognition of her outstanding service and exceptional potential for prospective contributions as a teacher, writer, and community leader. She is dedicated to education and public and political commitment to improving the living conditions of others in the U.S. and around the world."

Update: Following further study and internship work in Washington, D.C. and in Ireland, and mentoring service to at-risk teens through the Americorps Program, Jessica Lipschultz shall begin graduate studies at Stanford University in summer 2005.

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