Ayodele Oti and Gareth Rhodes selected from among the nation’s top students to be awarded 2011-2012 Truman Scholarships.

Two fellows of the Colin Powell Leadership Program, Gareth Rhodes and Ayodele Oti, are recipients of the 2011 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. One of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive awards, the Truman Scholarship provides up to $30,000 to students pursuing graduate degrees in public service fields. The scholarship is awarded to 60 students annually from a group of 600 nominated candidates, and selection is based on career and graduate study interests, community service and academic achievement. This is a first time two CCNY students have been awarded the scholarship in the same year.

Rhodes, a New York Life undergraduate fellow at the Center, is a political economy and public policy major and is enrolled in the Skadden Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies. Along with his Colin Powell fellowship, Rhodes is the recipient of the Gilman Scholarship, which allowed him to study Chinese business and Mandarin at the University of Shanghai, and has participated in several internships, including a summer internship at the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance the New York district office of Rep. Charles B. Rangel, and currently interns at the Manhattan office of Governor Andrew Cuomo. His policy proposal for the Truman Scholarship focused on opportunities for responsible campaign finance reform. Rhodes explains, “I believe in strong disclosure measures and robust public financing laws that allow candidates to spend time focusing on the issues rather than fundraising, while freeing candidates from relying on wealthy donors and interests to be competitive in campaigns.” In regard to the end goal of his campaign finance reform plan, Rhodes’s objective is “a stronger democracy where electoral and political power is dictated less by money and more by public support.”

Oti, also a New York Life Undergraduate fellow at the Center, is an international environmental public health and ecology major and is also a Gilman Scholar: She is currently in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, studying Spanish, marine biology, and Latin American history and culture. Along with her Colin Powell fellowship, Oti is a Goldsmith Scholar, Lisa Goldberg/Revson Scholar, Starr Scholar, and a student of the Macaulay Honors College. In the past, Oti has participated in the Harvard Kenney School of Government Public Policy and Leadership Conference and studied in an archaeology field school in Iceland through a grant from the National Science Foundation. Oti drew from her extensive experience in community organizing and environmental policy in her policy proposal on clean water for the Truman Scholarship. Oti explains, “I proposed that there be a participatory (sustainable) development approach to implement wells or water catchment systems and separate latrines for boys and girls, in addition to providing funding for personal hygiene.” She further emphasizes that through this approach, the people living in the communities where WASH programs are implemented would be directly involved with infrastructure planning, financing, installation, and management in all areas of the program.