This month, Birmingham-Southern College juniors Sophie Herrington and Sutton Smith were named Harry S. Truman Scholarship finalists. They were selected out of more than 700 applications to interview for one of the most prestigious American fellowships for leadership development and graduate education.

The Truman Scholarship is a federally funded fellowship for public service leadership, granted to U.S. undergraduate students with leadership potential, academic excellence, and a commitment to public service. Out of the 190 finalists, between 50 and 60 candidates will be named Truman Scholars on April 15.

Herrington, a human rights and conflict studies major, with a minor in writing and distinction in poverty studies, and Smith, a history and religion double major, are two of Alabama’s four finalists. They will complete the application process in in a few weeks.

“I’m hopeful that my interview will go well and I will be selected as a recipient of the Truman Scholarship, but I know that it’s a really competitive process and lots of qualified students apply,” Smith says.

She and Herrington are both juniors in the Krulak Institute’s Hess Fellows Program, which places students in intensive summer internships with nonprofit agencies. Both students spent last summer working with organizations in Washington, D.C.

Herrington interned for N Street Village, the largest provider of housing and supportive services to low-income and homeless women in D.C. Smith spent the summer in the Church Relations department of Bread for the World, an international, faith-based nonprofit that works to end hunger through public policy and advocacy.

“D.C. is an environment where I felt very supported, and I want to explore different sides of advocacy. In the future, through volunteer service or policy change, I will continue to advocate for this population,” Herrington says.

She serves as the president and one of the founding members of BSC’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter. Through this role, Herrington has advocated for sexual assault resources on campus, resulting in an ally training for student leaders, an online sexual and gender-based misconduct report form, and the implementation of a Title IX webpage with resources for students.

Also active in Birmingham, Smith was a full-time intern on Doug Jones’ Senate campaign over E-Term. She worked with the campaign’s research director out of Birmingham, assisting with events, finance, and communications. Currently, she’s also completing a ministry internship at Bluff Park United Methodist Church.

Smith comes from a family of BSC graduates – her father, the late Abb Jackson Smith, II ’93, her mother, Barclay Bell Smith ’95, her grandfather, James W. Bell ’67, and her uncle, William S. Smith ’96, are all alumni. For Smith, her courses at BSC have helped pave the way towards an interest in public policy.

“During my first semester of freshman year, I took Dr. Schantz’s class on W.E.B. Du Bois and American history. That class radically shaped my understanding of structural racism and the way it permeates every aspect of society today,” she says.

After graduation, Smith wants to earn both her Master of Divinity and her Master of Public Policy. She also hopes to be ordained in the United Methodist Church and work at the intersection of ministry and public policy. Herrington plans to spend her career advocating for sexual and reproductive rights in her home state and around the globe.

History Department Chair and Truman Scholarship Faculty Representative Dr. Mark Schantz sees this fellowship as a great fit for the many BSC students who show a passion for and commitment to public service.

“For BSC to have two Finalists is a signal of the talent of our students and puts us in the company of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation,” Schantz says.