West Texas A&M University’s Lindsey O’Neal is one of 60 students from across the nation who will be traveling to Washington, D.C., Nov. 7-8 as a finalist for the coveted Rangel Graduate Fellowship. Of the 60 finalists, 30 will be chosen to receive fellowships of up to $37,500 annually toward the completion of a two-year master’s degree.
O’Neal, a senior political science major from Palmetto, Fla., will be in the nation’s capital for the final phase of the selection process. She will prepare a writing sample and participate in a Rangel selection interview. Winners of the fellowship are expected to be announced by mid-November. The selection process is highly competitive and aims to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State. The program encourages applications from minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, women and those with financial need.
The 30 students selected for the fellowship must be committed to pursuing a two-year master’s degree in a field related to the Department of State’s Foreign Service, becoming a U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Office and representing the country and its interest abroad and at home. The fellowship provides funds for tuition, room, board, books and mandatory fees and includes an academic year stipend of $16,000.
O’Neal has long dreamed of being a foreign service officer and was one of 15 scholars selected to participate in the annual Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Enrichment Program this past summer at Howard University in Washington, D.C. O’Neal also served as a Virtual Student Foreign Service intern, a position managed by the U. S. Department of State that offers federal agencies the opportunity to host remote interns. She worked with a state department foreign service officer and studied Mexican policy, reading documents in Spanish and providing analysis. She also attended the Bush Public Service Institute at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Policy in 2016.
The Rangel Fellowship finalist is a candidate for December graduation. She is a member of the Attebury Honors Program and an active volunteer in campus activities. O’Neal has been involved in student government since her freshman year and has served on various committees to help improve the campus. She also was a member of the WTAMU debate team. She plans to begin working on a master’s degree after her December graduation.
-West Texas A&M University
