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Presidential Scholars: A Lasting Legacy
By Kendall McDonald (B.A. ’20), Presidential Scholars Class of 2020
Since 2014, the Presidential Scholars program, pioneered by the late Dean Karen Laughlin, has gone beyond academic support to create well-rounded leaders who serve the campus and greater community. A Presidential Scholars alumna reflects or on Laughlin’s legacy and the impact the the program has had on students and alumni.
For years prior to the inception of the Presidential Scholars program in 2013, the late Karen Laughlin had a vision for had a vision for a scholarship program that would identify students who were not only strong academically, but who were also thought leaders and well-rounded individuals with a diversity of ideas and experiences. She was adamant that if FSU was going to strive for a preeminent national ranking, it needed a prestigious scholarship program that would attract high-achieving students and encourage them to engage with the university, contribute to campus culture, and positively represent Florida State.
Katherine Cline (B.A. ’00), who was Laughlin’s director of development during the creation of the Presidential Scholars program, said Laughlin always emphasized the importance of investing in undergraduate success. “She felt that all alumni were undergraduates at some point,” Cline said. “She tirelessly fought for undergraduate studies to be at the table, and she was one of the first deans to understand the importance of private fundraising…that it was important to build relationships with alumni and supporters of the programs.”
Indeed, it was one of Laughlin’s relationships with alumni that allowed her to turn her vision into a reality. She had an existing relationship with FSU alumna Linda Lewis (B.S. ’65) and her husband Phil. Laughlin shared her visions for the scholarship with them, and together they crafted plans for the Presidential Scholars program, with Phil and Linda Lewis as the primary donors. “FSU was a game changer in my life,” said Linda Lewis. “It wasn’t intended that I should go to college, but I earned my way through and was the first in my family to get a college degree, so FSU opened to me so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise. When something happens that is that significant in your life, you want to give back so those opportunities can still exist.”
Linda and Phil Lewis
To craft the program, Laughlin and her colleagues took inspiration from similar programs that existed at other colleges, such as the Jefferson Scholars at the University of Virginia and the Foundation Fellowship at the University of Georgia; however, it was important to them to create a program with its own FSU spirit. “There’s something about the FSU spirit we like,” said Craig Filar (M.M. ’00, Ph.D. ’05), director of the Presidential Scholars program and the Office of National Fellowships. “When people come to campus they either get it or they don’t, but when they get it they say, ‘that’s where I need to be.’”
It was also important to Laughlin and Phil and Linda Lewis that the scholarship candidates be evaluated on more than just their written applications. Scholarship finalists are invited to an interview weekend on Florida State’s campus, where they take tours; meet professors, administrators and current Presidential Scholars; and interview in front of a panel. “I think you get a better sense of who they are and not just whether or not they look strong on paper,” said Cline. “Something that was really fundamental to Presidential Scholars was the global citizens they were beyond making good grades and good test scores.”
The Presidential Scholars class of 2023 with President John Thrasher (B.S. ’65, J.D. ’72) at the Presidential Scholars Leadership Summit.
The program’s benefits include institutional scholarship money; a stipend for educational enrichment activities such as international experiences and research projects; automatic entry into the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program; faculty mentoring and leadership training. The program also waives out-of-state tuition for selected students who are not from Florida, which helps the program attract top-tier students from different states and countries.
For some students, Presidential Scholars was the deciding factor in their choice to come to FSU. “It wasn’t just a scholarship in terms of finances, but it was also a program with mentoring, activities, and attention to the community,” said Mae Espinosa (B.S. ’19, B.A. ’19), an alumna from the class of 2019 who now attends Yale Law School. “I thought, ‘college is a formative time in anyone’s life, and it can’t hurt to have a program where I’m one of 25 students getting this individual attention.’ It was very rewarding, and I got much more out of it than I could’ve imagined.”
Dr. Craig Filar (M.M. ’00, Ph.D. ’05), director of the Presidential Scholars program and the Office of National Fellowships, with Mae Espinosa (B.S. ’19, B.A. ’19) at FSU’s spring 2019 commencement ceremony.
Many scholars emphasize the value of the social connections the program provides. “The program thrives on people with different attitudes, interests and opinions coming together for a common good to help each other,” said Ben Pifer (B.S. ’18), an alumnus from the first class of Presidential Scholars who now attends Pitt School of Medicine. “Getting used to embracing others’ ideas and opinions early on and coming together to make something bigger than myself — it’s what you have to do every day in medicine. So having four years of experience — it’s helped me every single day.”
For Amanda Schell (B.S. ’17, M.S. ’18), another alumnus from the program’s inaugural class, this social support was a catalyst for her success as a campus leader. “I would not have been as involved in FSU if not for other Presidential Scholars,” she said. “They brought me into SGA and other organizations where I could be involved. It showed me how capable I was of excelling in multiple areas.” Since graduation, Schell earned a master’s degree in applied statistics at FSU and served as the deputy chief of staff for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. She now works as a data scientist for the federal government.
From left to right: Sophie Rottenberg (B.S. ’18), Amanda Schell (B.S. ’17, M.S. ’18) and William Boose (B.A. ’18), alumni from the inaugural class of Presidential Scholars and co-founders of the Academic Recruitment Organization (ARO).
Schell, William Boose (B.A. ’18) and Sophie Rottenberg (B.S. ’18) — all alumni of the first class of Presidential Scholars — co-founded the Academic Recruitment Organization (ARO) in 2015. ARO, one of the first campus organizations founded by Presidential Scholars, helps FSU recruit high-performing students from high schools nationwide through student outreach and personal connection. It now has hundreds of student members and has contributed to FSU’s recent rise in national rankings. Schell said Laughlin’s support was integral to the creation and success of ARO. “She was such a big advocate for us having something innovative we wanted to do and allowing us to experiment,” Schell said. “We were in our early twenties. We thought we knew what we were doing but we really didn’t, so she helped us find our best track.”
The Presidential Scholars program also inspires scholars to push themselves and pursue new opportunities. “It’s pushed me to find the confidence and knowledge in myself to do new things,” said Abril Hunter, a current FSU student and class of 2023 Presidential Scholar. “I never expected myself to do a fellowship my first summer but one day after talking to Craig and another professor in Honors, I decided to talk to the Office of National Fellowships about applying for the Tyson Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Washington University. I applied and actually got the fellowship. That’s something I wouldn’t have accomplished without Presidential Scholars pushing me to do it.”
Abril Hunter (Presidential Scholars class of 2023)
The Presidential Scholars program requires each class to create and implement a public service initiative that serves the Tallahassee community. The scholars in each class have freedom in deciding which issues to address and in creating the service initiative, encouraging them to collaborate to solve an open-ended problem. According to Filar, the nature and design of the project challenges students to grow. “You have a dynamic group of people who are used to doing well because they’re used to following directions, then they get directions that are more nebulous by intention to push them to solve the problem,” Filar said. “It’s learning to navigate the space of excelling and recognizing that when you strive for great things, learning to manage the setbacks is just as important.”
One Presidential Scholars public service initiative led to the creation of Darasa (a Swahili word meaning “classroom”), a nonprofit organization that supports successful resettlement and integration of refugees by providing tutoring to migrant and refugee students. The organization — co-founded by Samantha Kunin (B.S. ’19) and Olivia McConnell (B.S. ’19) from the Presidential Scholars class of 2019 and current FSU student Molly McQueeney from the Presidential Scholars class of 2021 — grew out of their group’s public service initiative to become a registered student organization, and eventually a 501(c)(3). Over 200 FSU students are now involved in Darasa, and the organization serves almost every public school in Leon County.
Darasa Board from left to right: Alexandra Erickson (B.S. ’19), Olivia McConnell (B.S. ’19), Samantha Kunin (B.S. ’19), Molly McQueeney (Presidential Scholars class of 2021) and Margarita Martinez (B.S. ’19).
“It re-affirmed that public service is forever ingrained in my lifestyle,” said Kunin, who was recognized as a Rhodes finalist in 2018 and now attends law school at Florida State. “I recently discovered an interest in tax law through one of my classes, and I want to find a way to work with low-income families on tax returns and financial solutions.”
Samantha Kunin (B.S. ’19)
According to Filar, the impact of the Presidential Scholars program goes beyond the achievements of the scholars themselves. “Even students who interview but don’t get in are impacting the campus in significant and surprising ways,” he said. “It’s a rising tide. It’s not just the students who are selected, but the idea of what the program says about the caliber of all our students.”
Laughlin’s involvement, advocacy and legacy left a significant impression on the Presidential Scholars program and the campus as a whole. “She had a genuine love and appreciation for the work students were doing,” said Cline. “She felt a lot of pride in helping to create and champion a program that was allowing students to thrive not just in Presidential Scholars, but also undergraduate research; the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE); the FIG program; and the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House.”
Ben Pifer and parents with Karen Laughlin
Presidential Scholars alumni emphasized Laughlin’s passion and appreciation for students. “Talking to her was like peering into a well of wisdom — you could tell it was deep, but not quite how deep,” said Pifer. “I was writing a rough draft of my personal statement for medical school and I asked if she could look it over, and we went paragraph by paragraph about my points and what I was trying to convey. On multiple occasions sitting and talking with her, not a point stands out that wasn’t fantastic.”
Boose remembered running into Laughlin at the 2019 homecoming game. “It was awesome to catch up with her, and to see that even with me having graduated she was just as interested as always in what I was up to, and how me and my family were doing. That always impressed me — that she cared about all of her students’ and colleagues’ loved ones.”
Dean Karen Laughlin in the 2018 Homecoming Parade.
Amanda Schell and a few other women from the inaugural class of Presidential Scholars once hosted Laughlin for dinner before they graduated in 2018. “She talked to us for over an hour about her career and what mattered most to her and her hopes for our futures as we graduate,” Schell said. “To have someone so high level in FSU administration talk to us that way was always cherished.”
As the Presidential Scholars program prepares to welcome its seventh class of students in the fall, the program remains in a constant state of growth. The program, which initially accepted 25 students per year, recently expanded to accept 30 per year. Over the years, the program has used feedback from students, faculty and community partners to make collaborative improvements. It has also shifted focus slightly to recognize the importance of discussing setbacks and resilience in an environment that is geared toward achievement.
No matter how the program may change, its environment of support and inspiration for scholars remains constant. “Being surrounded by so many people who are ambitious and have big goals pushes me to dream big,” said Jalisia Goodman, a current FSU student and Presidential Scholar from the class of 2022. “It’s kept me motivated and looking to the future, because I see what everyone else is doing in this incredible group.”
Jalisia Goodman
To learn more about the program and see the full list of past and present Presidential Scholars, visit presidentialscholars.fsu.edu.
