Department of Language and Literature
News: Department major named public service fellows, receive $3,000 scholarships

7/10/2007 | English Language and Literature major Jennifer Amy Erickson has been named one of three recipients of the first public service scholarships awarded by the Center for Civic Leadership and Public Service at Benedictine University.

Established by former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan and the Department of Political Science at Benedictine University, the Public Service Fellows program awards winners with scholarships worth $3,000 and includes an internship component.

Erickson and this year’s other Public Service Fellows “were nominated because of their academic achievements and for having demonstrated leadership potential,” Ryan said. “As part of being named scholarship recipients, each student will serve a 15-week public internship in the fall.”

The students will serve their internships in the offices of DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett; at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a non-partisan non-profit research and advocacy think tank that promotes fair, efficient and progressive tax; and in the Bloomingdale offices of U.S. Representative Peter Roskam (R-Ill.).

“There are two overarching goals of the Center for Civic Leadership and Public Service—shaping a new generation of responsible citizens and encouraging careers in public service,” Ryan said.

The scholarships were provided through the generosity of Peter and Carole Doris of Downers Grove, former Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago chairman Lester H. McKeever, Jr., and Robert W. Fioretti and John B. Lower of the Chicago law firm of Fioretti and Lower.

“It is essential that we attract our best and brightest young people to public service and government,” said Fioretti, who serves as Alderman of Chicago's 2nd Ward. “I look at this program as an investment in the future.”

excerpted and adapted from Benedictine press release