Jared Duval '05 wins Morris K. Udall Scholarship for environmental leadership

Jared Duval '05 of Bethel, Vermont, has won a Morris K. Udall Scholarship, awarded annually to outstanding sophomores and juniors who are studying the natural environment and related fields. The Udall Foundation awards the $5,000 scholarships in tribute to the late Congressman Morris King Udall of Arizona, an advocate for environmental preservation throughout his three-decade legislative career.

One of only 80 Udall Scholars nationwide, Duval has already distinguished himself in the environmental arena. As a high school senior in Lebanon, New Hampshire, he led Students for a Sustainable Future, a local activist group that contributed to the defeat of a proposed supermarket development on 12 acres of wetland and forest. His leadership earned him the 2001 Brower Youth Award from the Earth Island Institute. Currently, Duval serves on the executive committee of the Sierra Student Coalition, the student arm of the Sierra Club.

The Udall scholarship will support Duval's studies at Wheaton, where he is a double major in political science and economics. Aspiring toward a public policy career that focuses on renewable energy and other environmental issues, he hopes ultimately to serve the state of Vermont as a U.S. congressman or senator.

Duval said of his scholarship award: ''In American politics today, the politicians with conviction who don't give in to special interests are so few and far between that it's an honor for me to receive a scholarship named after one of them. Mr. Udall was a tireless advocate for the environment. He was reasonable and open-minded, but when it came to principle, he never backed down. I hope I can have the opportunity to be the same kind of public servant he was.''

During the summer of 2003, Duval will work full-time as a campaign volunteer at the Burlington headquarters of Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.

At Wheaton, Duval recently won the Emily Susan Hartwell Leadership Award, given annually to a student who has ''motivated others to action in the areas of social, political or global responsibility.'' He has achieved academic distinction as a Presidential Scholar--by maintaining a minimum 3.8 GPA--and earning a place on the Dean's Top Ten in his class. He is an advisor to Helping Out Mother Earth (HOME), Wheaton's environmental club, and is active in Backpacks to Mexico, a student initiative that provides school supplies to children in impoverished villages in Mexico. During his junior year, he hopes to spend a semester in Uganda, focusing on Development Studies.

Duval came to Wheaton intending to be a political science major only. But after taking a First Year Seminar entitled ''Responsibility and Economic Policy,'' taught by Russell Williams, professor of economics, he decided to concentrate on that discipline as well. ''The seminar showed me the human side of economics, and I realized you can't be an effective policy maker without knowing the economy, and vice versa--you can't understand economics without knowing the human dimensions.''

At Wheaton, Duval relishes the ''great discussions'' he regularly has with faculty members, both in and outside of class. ''That's what I love about Wheaton, '' he said. ''It's a place where, if you're motivated, show enthusiasm and work hard, you can stand out and get that individual attention. The resources and the people are there to make sure you succeed.''

Duval's definition of success is an ambition one, for his career goal is nothing less than ''to serve as a conscientious, unwavering agent for positive social and environmental change--locally and globally.''

After his Wheaton graduation in 2005, Duval plans to pursue that dream by running for national director of the Sierra Student Coalition and attending graduate school, most likely in public policy or public administration. Then he will set his sights on a career in elective office. ''So many people do care about the future of this world,'' he said, ''but without a leader with the courage to organize and inspire action, such sentiment lies dormant. That very leadership role is what I will always commit myself to.''