USC junior receives Truman Scholarship

Growing up in Kentucky, Kayla Soren realized there were serious coal energy issues affecting different communities in her region. Now, the USC junior will continue her pursuit of climate change activism with a $30,000 scholarship from the Harry S. Truman Foundation.

“In Kentucky, there’s a huge energy issue with coal mining hurting our communities and the environment and our economy and the situation just keeps getting worse,” Soren said. “So growing up in that state, it was really easy to see the impact of environmental destruction and poor policy planning and the importance of renewable energy.”

Soren, who is majoring in environmental studies and international relations, received the award for her work in climate change activism, including co-founding the International Student Environmental Coalition. Soren and seven others founded ISEC three years ago to create a network of countries that provide climate justice resources for students around the world.

Soren said her participation in the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition launched deep involvement in grassroots activism, which includes co-founding ISEC, participating in bipartisan climate research through a Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences program in D.C., interning at the Barefoot College in Guatemala, a non-profit organization that trains women to be innovators and educators in their local communities.

“[KSEC] basically bring high schools and universities across Kentucky to make grassroots movements,” Soren said. “And it was really empowering to me and inspiring, and it made me feel like I could actually make a change for the environment.”

From there, Soren said she leveraged her involvement in the Ben Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Institute, a program that brings together students from the United States and European countries to brainstorm solutions to environmental issues, to create ISEC.

“I realized that, although there was an environmental movement in the United States, there wasn’t one really in the other countries at all in terms of Europe,” Soren said. “All of these countries from around the world were reaching out to [KSEC], wanting to get involved, and we realized this was really a way to get the entire global movement together. It really took off, and now we’re in 30 countries and it’s amazing.”

According to Soren, the goal of ISEC is to help provide the tools that activists around the world could use to create their own leadership within their own communities.

“The best people that know solutions to their communities are those living in the communities,” Soren said. “And so…what the network does is it helps anyone implement whatever they want for their community”

Andy Liang, assistant director of the Office of Academic Honors and Fellowships, has worked with Soren since her freshman year and said her achievements make her the perfect Truman Scholar.

“What Truman is looking for is change agents, the movers and shakers, and people who are really going to make a dent in shaping the policies and the ways in which we are solving the critical world issues of tomorrow,” Liang said. “They’re looking for public servants and people who are addressing problems from the ground up and working with local communities and I think Kayla’s done a really exceptional job of doing just that.”

Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of engineering and international relations, has also worked with Soren in his Technology and Environment freshman seminar, and said he has high confidence in her future.

“It has been an absolute privilege to work with Kayla, to have her as a student, and to write letters of rec and nominations — all of them were successful,” Meshkati said. “I would not be surprised that in several years from now we see Kayla as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. She has all the caliber and all the passion.”

Next, Soren will attend Truman Scholar Leadership Week at the end of May. During the week, she will participate in local community service projects and attend sessions about preparing for graduate school and creating group policy projects, in addition to a multitude of other information sessions and fairs.

“I’m excited for that and I plan on grad school a few years after I graduate,” Soren said. “I want to take a gap year and know exactly what program would be best fit for me.”