Undergrad Named Truman Scholar
Kaylyn Ahn, a junior at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social policy, was one of two Northwestern students to be named a 2024 Truman Scholar, the nation’s premier scholarship for students interested in public service.
Ahn inspired and testified in support of a bill to close a legal loophole in Illinois sexual assault law, stemming from her own experience in 2021. Since the bill’s passage, police departments across the state have trained officers in proper enforcement, rendering thousands of previously unaddressed sexual assault cases eligible for prosecution.
Related story from SESP magazine: How trauma led to advocacy
She is the second Truman Scholar from the School of Education and Social Policy and the first since Qiddist Hammerly (BS16, MS17) received the award in 2015. In addition to Ahn, Anna Dellit of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences also received the award. Both worked on their Truman policy proposals while studying abroad, Ahn in Ecuador and Dellit in Vietnam.
Now an advocate, Ahn travels across the country to speak at colleges, town halls and political events as a domestic violence survivor.
In 2021, she was named one of GLAAD’s 20 Under 20 LGBTQ+ changemakers for helping shape the future of activism.
A social policy and legal studies major, Ahn plans to use her Truman Scholarship to pursue a law degree. She hopes to explore conflict-related sexual violence and international human rights in the future.
Through positions on the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, an internship with the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, and her upcoming summer at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, she is working to “leverage my voice to help bring systemic change and fight for all survivors, past and present,” Ahn said.
“My politics are personal because I am one of few who live to tell my story; my advocacy is my means to strengthen the courage of those I love.”
Overall, Northwestern has had 22 Truman Scholars. More than 3,500 others have received the award since it was first given in 1977.
Read the full story on Northwestern Now.
Any Northwestern student interested in pursuing scholarship and fellowship opportunities can contact the Office of Fellowships to learn more.