Well-Rounded Claflin Wins Truman Scholarship
By Nicole St.Pierre
For the fourth year in a row and the 16th time since 1982, a USC student has won a prestigious Truman Scholarship.
Molly Claflin, a junior majoring in political science and minoring in news media and society and gender studies, is the latest USC student to win the award, which recognizes public service as well as academic achievement. The award, named after former President Harry S. Truman, gives Claflin $30,000 to apply toward graduate studies.
The Oregon native has a 3.84 GPA and devotes her personal time to a variety of activities and causes. She says her most fulfilling public-service experience was an event she recently organized that used her family’s Harley-Davidson business as a venue to raise money for aiding children with brain tumors.
“I lost a friend to brain cancer four years ago. When my family heard that there were two other children in our community with brain tumors who needed money for surgery, we decided to help,” she says.
That help came under the name Bikers Have Heart, a fund-raiser that included a 50-mile bike ride around Southern Oregon, a silent auction of donated items and free bike accessories for people who donated $100 to the cause. With Claflin at the helm writing press releases and organizing volunteers, Bikers Have Heart raised more than $15,000 in only a few months and enabled both children to have successful brain surgeries.
Claflin will use the Truman Scholarship to earn a law degree and is interested particularly in the study of First Amendment law. She recently assisted USC College political science professor Mark Kann with his book on the post-revolutionary judicial system. Outside the classroom, she co-founded an American Civil Liberties Union chapter at USC in 2001 and is an active member of the USC College Democrats and the USC Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.
After law school, Claflin hopes to pursue a career in public service and says she will use her education to stop injustices, such as juvenile capital punishment.
“Our nation is one of only six that still uses death as a punishment for children. That puts us in the unpleasant company of Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen,” says the USC scholar, who hopes to spend the summer working with the Federal Commission on Civil Rights.
“Molly’s strength lies in combining a thorough understanding of issues with the strategic ability to achieve results,” says Margaret Harrington, USC’s Truman faculty representative, who helps accomplished Trojans like Claflin navigate the complex scholarship application process that can take a year or longer. “Beyond outstanding classroom work, Molly has the skill and curiosity for independent scholarly pursuits.”
Often described as well rounded, Claflin is a talented artist who has sold work commercially. While in high school, the avid reader integrated several titles from various listings of the greatest books in Western Civilization to create her own master list. Today, she is more than halfway through her own list. She continues to expand her knowledge of other civilizations and cultures through ongoing study of Eastern religions at USC.
Harrington says there’s no single reason why USC students like Claflin are so successful at winning scholarships. “Several hallmarks of the USC undergraduate experience—particularly encouragement of multidisciplinary study and engagement of community service—attract the kind of students who are natural candidates for the Truman Scholarship,” she says.
Also, because USC students have so many ways to participate in activities on campus and in nearby communities, many are able to develop leadership skills, says Harrington. USC is drawing more high-achieving students than ever and makes it a priority to promote and support graduate scholarship programs such as Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright programs.
USC’s last four Truman Scholarship winners were from USC College. They include Dara Purvis, political science and theatre (2002); Paul Miller, political science and sociology (2001); and Reema El-Amamy, economics (2000). Nilay Vora, an interdisciplinary studies and mathematics major in the College, also was recognized by the foundation as a finalist this year.
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