Northwestern student Abigail Roston receives highly competitive Harry S. Truman Scholarship

Northwestern junior Abigail Roston has been given the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a $30,000 award that supports graduate education for outstanding students dedicated to public service. Roston has a passion for criminal justice reform and hopes to remake the system from the inside out.

Roston feels most passionate about juvenile justice, and she hopes to eventually become the U.S. solicitor general. She feels called to action by the tens of thousands of children incarcerated in correctional-style facilities, most of whom have not been before a judge or awaited trial.

Roston said in her scholarship application,

“I want to be the lawyer who helps her clients feel hopeful and empowers them to create a better life. I will do everything in my power to be a force of justice for others, and direct all of my energy into fixing a system that jails kids and gives up on them.”

Receiving the Truman Scholarship will allow Roston to pursue her dreams in criminal justice reform. Truman Scholars receive up to $30,000 for graduate study, priority admission, and supplemental financial aid at premier graduate institutions, career and graduate school counseling, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling and special internship opportunities within the federal government.

See more about Roston in the Northwestern Now article Criminal justice reform is call to action for Truman Scholar.