{"id":47862,"date":"2023-01-26T17:14:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T22:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=47862"},"modified":"2023-02-02T09:27:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:27:56","slug":"a-first-for-utc-lola-oke-awarded-rangel-fellowship-for-graduate-degree-and-u-s-foreign-service-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/01\/a-first-for-utc-lola-oke-awarded-rangel-fellowship-for-graduate-degree-and-u-s-foreign-service-career\/","title":{"rendered":"A first for UTC: Lola Oke awarded Rangel Fellowship for graduate degree and U.S. Foreign Service career"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Senior

Senior Lola Oke, a Brock Scholar and political science major, and Leslie Pusey, director of the UTC Office of National Scholarships. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Another year means another prestigious award for Lola Oke.<\/p>\n

Oke, a political science major and Brock Scholar in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Honors College, is the first UTC student to be awarded a Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship.<\/p>\n

She was one of 45 fellows selected nationwide for the 2023 cohort.<\/p>\n

Rangel Graduate Fellowships<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>according to the program, support individuals who want to help formulate, represent and implement U.S. foreign policy through a career in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State. Oke will receive up to $84,000 for a two-year master\u2019s degree, two paid internships in the U.S. Congress and a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad, and mentoring and professional development opportunities.<\/p>\n

Oke, who said, \u201cI want to be a change-maker; I want to be a servant,\u201d will begin an orientation at Howard University in Washington, D.C., following graduation in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means so much to me to be able to have even participated in the application process in the first place,\u201d Oke said, \u201cand I\u2019ll be participating in a program that first and foremost was meant to diversify the space of diplomacy, the U.S. Department of State and foreign relations in general, and the voices that are able to be contributed to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an honor and a privilege. I\u2019m so grateful to be able to contribute my own experiences and perspectives but also grow as a political thinker and as a global citizen of this world\u2014and what it means to truly be a servant to those around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oke, a 2019 graduate of Campbell High School in Smyrna, Georgia, has had a highly decorated academic career at UTC. She is:<\/p>\n