Yasmine Ware has been awarded the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
Ware, a junior interdisciplinary studies major from Madison, Miss., was among 54 recipients this year. Selected students hailed from 49 United States colleges and universities. Truman Scholarships are awarded to students dedicated to pursuing a future career in public service, according to a press release from the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
Ware’s involvement on campus includes serving as the president of the Undergraduate Black Law Student Association and a member of the Columns Society. Previously, she served in the Associated Student Body in the President’s Cabinet and Senate. She also was a senator in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.
For Ware, the journey to becoming a Truman Scholar has helped her establish a better sense of self.
“The amount of preparation that I did helped me feel so much more confident and understanding of what our world looks like and how to go about it as a public servant,” Ware said. “But also, I got to know myself on a deeper level and connect with everything that I’ve done.”
Ware started her walk to becoming a public servant at a young age.
“I think the moment where I started having kind of an understanding of what ‘my thing’ might be was when I started speech and debate in sixth grade,” Ware said. “What I loved more than anything was doing the interpretation events, which is basically acting. … I did musical theater. I started writing songs when I was five years old.”
Those interests drove Ware to start a podcast in her sophomore year of high school. That podcast, “Yasmine’s Warehouse,” won The New York Times’ fourth annual Student Podcast Contest.
“I always feel like anyone could be on my podcast because I want to talk to everyone,” Ware said. “I think that’s really reflective of who I am, and I don’t want to put limitations on that. What I really like about it is that I hope to bring it with me throughout the different places that I’ll go — the more places I go, the more voices I’ll be able to amplify and share.”
Ware’s vision has become a reality during her time at the university.
In October 2023, she was awarded the inaugural James Meredith Community Transformation Award, which she has used to fund her documentary, “Mound Bayou Memoirs.” Originally conceived as a podcast, the production evolved into a larger, more complex narrative. The documentary, still in production, will chronicle the history of Mound Bayou, Miss., one of the first all African American municipalities in the United States.
“It’s about telling the story but also protecting it,” Ware said. “That also means protecting the physical spaces, the homes of historical figures or just historical sites. What can be done to actually give these places (in the Delta) the recognition that they deserve so that they can be preserved and shared with new generations?”
Ware’s academic concentrations are in international studies, global security studies and Chinese. She plans to attend law school after graduation.
Her advice to fellow students wanting to pursue academic opportunities such as the Truman Scholarship is to be authentically yourself.
“Just follow your interests, and don’t try to be anyone else,” Ware said. “Don’t copy someone else’s resume. Those people already exist. Who are you? Who do you want to be? What does your impact on the world look like, and what do you want it to look like? When you’re yourself, you have nothing to lose.”
