Campbell students receive prestigious scholarship

     Research papers written by Campbell students Danielle Thompson and Jerrell McGee were among five out of 30 papers selected to receive the prestigious Marshall Scholarship award for 2005.
Presented by the George C. Marshall Research Library in Lexington, Va., the $500 scholarship provides selected students an opportunity to undertake research and writing projects using the resources and collections of colleges and universities, as well as those of the Marshall Research Library. The students must choose subjects involving 20th century diplomatic and military history or political affairs spanning a period from 1898-1960, the approximate dates of George C. Marshall’s public service, including his tenure as Secretary of State after World War II and as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.
     Thompson’s paper evaluated the contributions of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II and McGee’s paper delved into the dissension over the Second Front between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his generals and the civilian and Allied leaders of the time.
     “The Women’s Auxiliary interested me personally because it is about women,” said Thompson. “There hasn’t been a lot of historical focus on the role of women in war.”
A senior from Garner, N.C., Danielle Thompson is a pre-law and government major with a minor in Criminal Justice. She has participated in the North Carolina Student Legislature and interned with a Harnett County law firm.
     “It’s an honor to represent Campbell and a good opportunity to research primary documents that most undergraduate students don’t have the opportunity to investigate,” Thompson said of the scholarship. “It was interesting to discover these women’s diaries, scrapbooks, memoirs and photographs. I gained an appreciation for their hard work and patriotism.”
     A junior from Trinity, N.C., Jerrell McGee’s interest in FDR and the Second Front was sparked by the conflict in the Middle East. “Just like the Iraq War, there were differences of opinions over the commitment of Allied troops to a second front in Europe during World War II ” McGee said. “I knew this because I’m a history major, but my research made me want to find out if there were more comparisons between the wars, like disagreements over what types of forces should be used and where they should go.”
     A history major and Presidential Scholar, McGee said he learned a lot from his research. “I learned about the behind- the-scenes activities, especially General Marshall’s contributions,” he said. “Marshall is a little known figure in history, but he helped to change the world view that we could have a standing army and change from isolationism to internationalism.”
     Thompson and McGee received $250 each scholarship money.
 

Bulletin 0110-5/02/05