College juniors Anea Moore and Stephen Damianos have been named as Penn’s newest Truman Scholars.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a merit-based award that provides up to $30,000 to support students through graduate or professional schools, with the end goal of taking on jobs in public service. This year, 59 recipients of the award were chosen from of 756 applicants from 312 institutions.
Moore has spent her three years at Penn in various leadership positions. Earlier this year, as co-chair of the 1vyG Conference, Moore helped to host a two-day event featuring over 300 students from elite universities. The conference, designed to address issues faced by first-generation, low-income students in the Ivy League, saw a range of panels and workshops for students, faculty and administrators to exchange ideas. Moore played a central role in bringing the annual conference to Penn for the first time.
Moore is majoring in sociology and urban studies with a concentration in law and a minor in Africana studies. She plans to eventually earn a juris doctorate and graduate degrees in education and public policy, Penn Today wrote. At Penn, she created a student-focused program at the Greenfield Intercultural Center that provides a donation-based food pantry and textbook library to FGLI students.
Moore also assists families with community programming and access to education as the Assistant Family Engagement Coordinator at Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia.
Damianos, a former Daily Pennsylvanian staffer, is a human rights activist studying political science and communication, Penn Today wrote. He is the president and founder of Penn Undergraduate for Refugee Empowerment — an organization that aims to help refugees become active citizens. Damianos also works with the United Nations’ “Together” Campaign, which encourages college students to advocate for refugees.
He plans on pursuing a juris doctorate with a focus on immigration law, according to the Truman Scholarship website.
Last year, only one student, College senior Sarah Cornelius, was named a Truman Scholar.
Moore and Damianos will receive their awards at a ceremony at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Mo. on May 27.
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