KU junior competing for national Truman Scholarship

A scanned photo of Travis Weller is available from University Relations, (785) 864-8853.

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas junior from Garden City who seeks to prevent sexual violence is a finalist in the national 2003 Truman Scholarship competition. The scholarships provide up to $30,000 for undergraduate and graduate study.

Travis Weller, Garden City junior majoring in sociology at KU, is competing for one of the 75 to 80 scholarships that will be awarded in March by the Truman Foundation in Washington, D.C. At least one scholarship is given in each of the 50 states.

Weller, who also is the men's outreach coordinator at KU, plans to seek a law degree and a master's degree in sociology. He plans a career of teaching and research, specializing in sexual violence law. Ultimately Weller hopes to develop a center for the study of sexual violence. He envisions a center that would focus on the reduction and prevention of sexual violence and bring about social change by improving gender relations.

Weller's proposal for a public policy issue, required of Truman applicants, is addressed to the director of the Office on Violence against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice. He proposes men's outreach programs at universities "to address the culture that makes rape more acceptable, and to include men, rather than focus exclusively on potential victims."

He will be interviewed on March 7 in Kansas City, Mo., with other finalists from Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. A total of 212 finalists from 144 institutions nationwide are competing for the 75 to 80 scholarships.

Regional panels interview the finalists and make recommendations for the 75 to 80 scholarships available nationally. Truman scholars are chosen on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood of "making a difference." Candidates must be planning careers in public service and must propose a solution to a public policy issue as part of their application.

Since 1981, 15 KU students have become Truman scholars. The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 and made its first scholarship awards in 1977.

Previous KU Truman Scholars include David Adkins, serving in the Kansas Senate from Leawood. In 1981, Adkins was the first KU student to receive a Truman Scholarship.

Winners receive up to $3,000 for their senior year and up to $27,000 for three years of graduate study. To compete, candidates must be full-time students in the upper fourth of their class and have grade-point averages of at least 3.0. They also must be U.S. citizens or nationals.

Travis Weller is the son of Brad and Sue Weller of Garden City and a graduate of Garden City High School. He also attended Garden City Community College.

As a high school student in a western Kansas community that has experienced huge population growth due largely to the meat-packing industry, Weller worked to create "We are GCHS," a project to unify students by defusing violence fostered by cliques and gangs and infusing school spirit. The project included raising funds to produce T-shirts emblazoned with the school's buffalo mascot for all 500 seniors to wear one day each month during the school year.

"We are GCHS" also sponsored a car show with a barbecue in the school parking lot for students to display their cars and a senior class quilt project. Each senior received a quilting square to decorate and be stitched into a massive collage representing the class. The quilting project has become a tradition at the high school.

Weller also is a co-founder of the KU Men Can Stop Rape group and a member of the Student Senate. He has worked as a calculus tutor and an orientation assistant.

Weller received a KU Summerfield Scholarship, a four-year scholarship for the top 50 entering Kansas men, and a James Casey Scholarship, one of four awarded to children of United Parcel Service employees.