Jacob Holland
University of Central Arkansas student Jacob Holland has been named a Truman Scholarship finalist.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation is a competitive national program that awards graduate fellowships to those who aspire to work in public service. For the 2019 award, 840 students applied and less than 200 were selected as finalists.
Holland, of Cabot, is a junior with a double major in political science and public relations and a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. He is the only UCA student to be selected as a finalist this year.
“When I heard about the Truman Scholarship, I knew it sounded like an award I would naturally gravitate toward since its focus is on public service,” Holland said.
Finalists are chosen based on campus involvement in leadership, academic success and public service. Holland is president of the UCA Debate and Forensics team, as well as a member of UCA Young Democrats and the Public Administration Club. Holland is also ranked No. 1 in the nation for team debate speaking in the International Public Debate Association.
As a scholarship finalist, Holland interviewed with one of the foundation’s regional review panels at Vanderbilt University in Nashville this month. He credits UCA faculty members Heather Yates, Kim Hoffman, Anthony McMullen, Donna Bowman and Honors College interim Dean Patricia Smith with helping him reach that stage of the process.
This year’s class of Truman Scholars will be announced by April 17.
“It’s a long wait, but knowing that I was selected in a pool of so many bright students makes the wait much more bearable,” Holland said. “From seeing those leaders and public servants, and their amazing stories and passions, I have no doubt that the future of America is in good hands.”
After graduating from UCA in May 2020, Holland aims to attend law school and earn a master’s in communication management.
“UCA helped prepare me for this opportunity by not only providing amazing opportunities for public service and community engagement on campus, but also in providing amazing faculty members who teach the importance of being a steward of public service and fostering healthy communities,” Holland said. “This award is an amazing honor and I encourage anyone else who truly has a passion for public service to apply for this award. While the process is very intimidating, it is worthwhile.”
About the Harry S. Truman Foundation
The Harry S. Truman Foundation was created by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Truman and the Presidential Memorial to Public Service. The Foundation’s mission is premised on the belief that a better future relies on attracting to public service the commitment and sound judgment of bright, outstanding Americans. In fact, it was this belief that led President Truman, when approached by a bipartisan group of admirers near the end of his life, to encourage Congress to create a living memorial devoted to this purpose rather than a bricks and mortar monument. For 40 years, the Truman Foundation has fulfilled that mission: inspiring and supporting Americans from diverse backgrounds and from across the United States to public service.
