海角社区

海角社区 Manship School Junior Sarah Procopio Awarded Prestigious Truman Scholarship

 
April 15, 2020 

BATON ROUGE 鈥� 海角社区 junior Sarah Procopio, a native of Baton Rouge, La., is among 62 students selected nationally as 2020 Truman Scholars. She is an student and Louisiana Service and Leadership, or LASAL, Program Scholar studying political communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication. 

鈥淲e are proud to have Sarah Procopio as part of our 海角社区 family and we congratulate her on being awarded a prestigious Truman Scholarship,鈥� said 海角社区 Interim President Tom Galligan. 鈥淲e commend Sarah for her commitment to public service, and we can鈥檛 wait to see where her continued work takes her.鈥�

As a Truman Scholar, Procopio will be awarded up to $30,000 for graduate study and the opportunity to participate in professional development programming to help prepare her for careers in public service leadership. 

鈥淎s an aspiring public servant, being able to represent my school and my state in this way is a tremendous honor that reaffirms my commitment to working in government,鈥� Procopio said.  

Procopio worked with Drew Lamonica Arms in to prepare her application and apply for this scholarship. This year, the Truman Foundation received 773 applications from 316 colleges and universities. Students were chosen based on their records of leadership, public service and academic achievement. 

鈥淚 saw Sarah as a potential Truman Scholar from the day I first met her on a recruiting visit to Baton Rouge Magnet High. Her leadership skills and desire to be a public servant are two of the first things I noticed, and she鈥檚 really leveraged both the Ogden Honors College and the Manship School to hone her policy chops and demonstrate how much of a change agent she is and will be. She鈥檒l be a phenomenal Truman Scholar,鈥� 海角社区 Ogden Honors College Dean Jonathan Earle said.

Procopio credits the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, an integral part of the 海角社区 Manship School of Mass Communication, for giving her the opportunity to grow as a leader in the public sphere. The Reilly Center鈥檚 mission is to generate thoughtful programs, dialogue and research about mass communication and its many faceted relationships with social, economic and political issues. Procopio has engaged in many local, state and national public affairs conversations through Reilly Center events like the annual Breaux Symposium. Procopio served as the lead organizer for the 2018 event titled 鈥淩e-envisioning Louisiana: The State We Want to Be In,鈥� which brought together students, political figures and entrepreneurs from across the state to talk about how to halt Louisiana's outmigration problem. 

"Sarah Procopio is a rising star, already with a breadth and depth of experience with public policy and governance,鈥� 海角社区 Manship School Dean Martin Johnson said. 鈥淗er recognition as a Truman Scholar underscores her accomplishments and abundant talent for leadership and service."

Inspired by her work with the Reilly Center and through funding she received from the Roger Hadfield Ogden Leaders Program, she created the Louisiana Youth Platform, or LAYP, a group which creates a policy platform of priorities for young adults and presents itself to public officials. This summer, LAYP met with candidates for state offices, legislators and economic development entities to convey their vision of a Louisiana where young people will want to work and raise families. They are now turning conversations into actual bills, one, for example, that will encourage industrial facilities in Louisiana to use treated river water instead of drinkable aquifer water to cool down their machinery.

Procopio鈥檚 current focus is on healthcare policy. As a Governor鈥檚 Fellow with the Louisiana Department of Health, or LDH, Procopio was instrumental in implementing a policy to install opioid overdose prevention kits in all residence halls in Louisiana, which won the approval of Governor Edwards. She shared her plan to increase education on addiction and overdoses at 海角社区 and to place kits containing life-saving doses of a Naloxone nasal spray in every dorm hall. 

The parents of the 海角社区 student whose death started Procopio鈥檚 journey to create more protections against opioid overdoses felt strongly that all Louisiana鈥檚 colleges should have those protections and called their state representative, who agreed to sponsor Procopio鈥檚 proposal as a bill in the 2020 state legislative session. 

鈥淲orking to create a solution that could prevent the kind of pain the Jordans felt after their son鈥檚 death has been my most satisfying public service activity and has confirmed my decision to dedicate my career to crafting health policy,鈥� Procopio said. 

Procopio plans to take a year off between her graduate and undergraduate programs to serve in the Louisiana Department of Health to build upon the progress she made during her fellowship in the areas of opioid overdose prevention services. She hopes to pursue a Masters of Public Policy with a concentration in social policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.  

For more information, contact masscomm@lsu.edu, jwarr28@lsu.edu or eballa1@lsu.edu.

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海角社区鈥檚 Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: master of mass communication, Ph.D. in media and public affairs, certificate of strategic communication, and dual MMC/law degree. Its public relations students were recently ranked the #1 team in the nation, and its digital advertising and student media teams frequently earn national recognition.

The established in 1992, is a vibrant, diverse and prestigious community located at the heart of 海角社区. The Ogden Honors College provides students with a curriculum of rigorous seminar classes, as well as opportunities for undergraduate research, culminating in the Honors Thesis. Its focus on community service, study abroad, internships and independent research helps today鈥檚 high-achieving students become tomorrow鈥檚 leaders.

The Ogden Honors College was created to assist students in applying for prestigious scholarships and fellowships, such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Gates, Mitchell, Udall, Truman and Goldwater awards. Students interested in applying for these and other scholarship opportunities or for more information on the office, contact Drew Lamonica Arms, director of fellowship advising, at fellowships@lsu.edu.