GPE co-director Joe O'Shea named Rhodes Scholar

At age 21, Florida State University senior and Student Body President Joseph O’Shea has founded a free health clinic in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, led a coalition for healthcare reform in Leon County, and co-founded an international service-based exchange program for students worldwide.

Now, O’Shea can add “Rhodes Scholar” to his already exceptional resume.

On Nov. 17, the dynamic campus and community leader with a seat on FSU’s Board of Trustees became one of the 32 U.S. college students selected as Rhodes Scholars this year. An FSU Honors Program student with majors in philosophy and interdisciplinary social sciences and a 4.0 grade point average, O’Shea rose to the top of an extraordinary field of finalists during a grueling application and interview process that demands months — some say years — of preparation and practice.

“I was awestruck,” said O’Shea, who hails from Clearwater, Fla. “The Rhodes Scholarship is such a remarkable opportunity and a launching pad to help those in need for the rest of my life. My mom was weeping over the phone when I told her. My father passed away in May. I wish he could have been here to see this. I am so grateful for the exceptional education I’ve received at FSU.”

The Rhodes Scholarship funds up to three years of undergraduate or post-graduate study in England at the University of Oxford. Created in 1902 through a bequest in the will of Cecil Rhodes, a British philanthropist and colonial pioneer, it is the oldest international study award available to American students and widely considered the most prestigious of its kind.

O’Shea is the third FSU student ever to be named a Rhodes Scholar (the first was Caroline Alexander in 1976) and the second since 2005, when student-athlete Garrett Johnson received the honor.

“The entire FSU community joins me in congratulating Joe O’Shea for a stellar record of achievement that will reverberate into the future not only across this campus and community but also throughout our nation and around the globe,” said FSU President T.K. Wetherell. “We’re honored that this inexhaustible and visionary young man chose FSU as his undergraduate home. The Rhodes Scholarship is a fitting recognition of his world-class commitment to both scholarship, social activism and service.”

Then there’s the Truman Scholarship. In March 2007 that highly prestigious national fellowship was awarded to O’Shea in recognition of his outstanding leadership potential and community service. As a Truman Scholar, he’ll receive $30,000 toward the completion of a graduate-level degree at the institution of his choosing in exchange for public service work for three of the seven years afterwards.

With two top national scholarships in hand, O’Shea intends to first earn a Rhodes-funded Master of Philosophy degree in Comparative Social Policy at Oxford, then a Truman-funded law degree. Not surprisingly, he envisions a career dedicated to public service, and he’s already had plenty of practice. Since 2006, O’Shea has founded or co-founded:

• The Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic in post-Katrina New Orleans, which provides preventive and primary care to about 10,000 patients annually;
• Global Peace Exchange, an international service-based exchange program for students worldwide, modeled after the U.S. Peace Corps;
• Leon County Community Healthcare Coalition, which led the effort to provide comprehensive healthcare reform for the area’s indigent residents; and
• Student United Way, an initiative that mirrors local United Way operations by harnessing student philanthropy and operating as a clearinghouse for student community service.

“The Rhodes Scholarship invests in future leaders who possess a distinct blend of intellect and character,” said Jamie Purcell, director of FSU’s Office of National Fellowships. “Joe is just what the Rhodes Trust aims to support, a starry-eyed idealist with the energy and determination to make a profound impact on the world. He is extraordinarily accomplished yet still brimming with potential.”

As the leader of FSU’s student body and Student Government Association — and in specific roles such as director of the Office of Social Justice and member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity — O’Shea has logged a host of achievements. Among others, he spearheaded the creation of the Men Advocating Responsible Conduct Affiliated Project, which aims to reduce sexual violence and promote gender equality on campus, and helped drive the “True Seminole Campaign,” an effort to unite the FSU community and encourage service to others (profits from campaign merchandise help support FSU student volunteers as “True Seminole Ambassadors” and the construction of a technical school in Rwanda).

Among many other honors earned while at FSU, O’Shea was named to USA Today’s All Academic First Team; was a junior-year inductee to Phi Beta Kappa; won the FSU College of Arts and Sciences’ Academic Leadership Award; garnered an FSU Profile of Service Award; and received the FSU Artes Award — awarded annually to a student who best represents the “beauty of intellectual pursuit.”

O’Shea serves as a trustee on FSU’s Board of Trustees and its Foundation and Athletic boards of directors, and holds a seat on dozens of FSU committees and three local or state-level leadership boards. As a member of the U.S. Public Service Academy’s National Youth Advisory Board, he is working to increase support for a bill to create a public service-centered undergraduate institution modeled after the nation’s military academies.

“Joe not only has made us proud, he has made us better,” said Mary Coburn, FSU’s Vice President for Student Affairs. “His passionate pursuit of social justice has inspired civic engagement in countless others. This is a young leader who truly will be making a difference in the decades to come.”