Two Brandeis students named Harry S. Truman Scholarship finalists

Jessye Kass ’13 and Marisa Turesky ’13 were recently named finalists by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The scholarship funds outstanding leaders who have strong records of public or community service and who plan careers in governmental, non-profit, or educational organizations. The winners will be announced on Friday, March 30.

Scholars receive $2,000 in their senior year and up to $30,000 in funding to students pursuing graduate studies in public service fields.

Each year the foundation reviews over 600 applications for the 60 to 65 scholarships, which are awarded annually. According to the Truman Foundation, the 600 applications do not include the students who compete on their own campus for one of a school's four nominations.

Kass is passionate about helping victims of domestic and sexual abuse, children with disabilities, children living in poverty and managing education inequities.  She is an active community organizer both on campus and globally. Kass is the co-founder and vice president of Attukwei Art Foundation, a therapeutic art-based non-government organization in Ghana dedicated to providing free art programs to children living in poverty, victims of abuse, and children with disabilities. She is also the founder and president of the Brandeis Anthropology Club, where she promotes cultural relativism about sensitive topics facing our world today.

Turesky studies anthropology and Gender Studies. She is an advocate for food justice and researches the life stories of female farmers in both America and the Netherlands. Turesky intends to pursue a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and teach about food culture, both as an academic and as an activist.

For more information visit the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation page.