University of Notre Dame Junior John “Jack” Boland has been awarded a 2021 Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service Scholarship for his academic excellence, leadership and commitment to public service.
Boland is one of 20 sophomores and juniors from Phi Beta Kappa institutions selected for the award from more than 800 applicants.
Established in 2020, the Key into Public Service Program highlights the wide range of opportunities for liberal arts graduates to pursue rewarding careers in public service.
Scholars receive a $5,000 undergraduate scholarship and participate in a virtual convening that will provide them with training, mentoring and reflection on pathways into active citizenship in the tradition of Phi Beta Kappa, which promotes and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences as the oldest academic honor society in the U.S.
Boland worked with Elise Rudt, national fellowships senior program manager with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame, to apply for the award.
“Jack and I have worked on a few awards this year, including his honorable mention for the Udall Scholarship, and I have seen the many ways he has wielded intellect and his liberal arts education to promote justice,” said Rudt. “He is a perfect fit for the Phi Beta Kappa Scholarship, and I am so happy that they recognized his academic excellence and commitment to public service with this award.”
Boland is a political science major and philosophy, politics and economics minor from Herndon, Virginia. He is a Balfour-Hesburgh Scholar and a member of the Balfour Student Board. He earned an honorable mention for the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship.
His commitment to public service includes internships with the offices of Sen. Mark Warner in the U.S. and member of Parliament Lisa Cameron in the United Kingdom; past research with Brian Collier, director of the American Indian Catholic Schools Network and faculty for the Alliance for Catholic Education, on the intersection of Catholicism and Native tradition; with Madhav Joshi, research professor and associate director of the Peace Accords Matrix at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, on the significance of information flow in mobilizing civilians for conflict; and with Dianne Pinderhughes, professor of political science and Africana studies, on Black politics after the civil rights movement.
Additionally, Boland is an advising fellow with Matriculate, a nonprofit devoted to college access, and a member of the Native American Student Association of Notre Dame. And he works with the Potawatomi tribe to research their history with and relationship to Notre Dame.
“I am greatly honored to be selected for the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Key into Public Service Scholarship,” Boland said. “I hope to use this scholarship and the resources that come with it to further dedicate myself to public service.”
He continued, “I am grateful for Elise Rudt’s help in guiding me through the application, and I would also like to thank Brian Collier, Dianne Pinderhughes, Madhav Joshi, Cecilia Lucero, Joshua Kaplan, Joseph Parent and many more who have supported and guided me throughout my undergraduate career.”
For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.
Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on June 03, 2021.