UM Names Brown Scholarships for Ethics in Public Affairs Awardees

UM students Lauryn Tecca (left) and Jane Rooney were awarded the Bob and Sue Brown Undergraduate Scholarship for Ethics in Public Affairs.

MISSOULA – The University of Montana’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center has selected two recipients of the Bob and Sue Brown Undergraduate Scholarship for Ethics in Public Affairs. They are students Lauryn Tecca of Billings and Jane Rooney of Lewistown.

The Brown Scholarship is awarded annually to two UM students in recognition of academic work that exemplifies a commitment to ethics in public affairs.

“The Mansfield Center is delighted to have received so many worthy submissions for our scholarship honoring Bob and Sue Brown and their commitment to ethical public service,” said Professor Rob Saldin, director of the Mansfield Center’s Ethics and Public Affairs Program. “This year's recipients, Lauryn Tecca and Jane Rooney, wrote outstanding essays that exemplify the high quality and thoughtful work the Brown Scholarship was designed to honor.”

Tecca, a graduating senior who majored in history, won the $2,000 Brown Scholarship award. She was nominated by Professor Tobin Shearer for a paper she wrote for his Prayer and Civil Rights course.

“Lauryn’s scholarship is marked by the best of historical empathy – an approach in which she views the past from her subjects’ perspectives and finds new interpretative insight as a result,” Shearer said.

Rooney, a rising senior majoring in political science, won the $1,000 Brown Scholarship award. She was nominated by Professor Dennis Swibold for her paper on the ethics of true crime, written for Swibold’s media ethics course.

“Jane’s paper intrigued me because it took a rare look inside the history, ethics and sociology of so-called true crime stories at a time when many news organizations are taking a hard look at such coverage,” Swibold said. “Such journalism has arguably never been more popular or pervasive.”

The namesakes of the award, Bob and Sue Brown, dedicated their careers to education, ethics and public service. Bob Brown served a total of 26 years in the Montana Legislature and also served as the Montana secretary of state and was nominated as the Republican candidate for the 2004 election for Montana governor. In addition to his robust career in public service, he also served on several history and education boards.

During her 40 years of teaching at Flathead High School, Sue Brown was a department chair and head speech and debate coach. She helped Flathead become the first International Baccalaureate Program World School in Montana. Since retiring in 2017, she continues to serve on education and community boards across the state.

Created by an Act of Congress in 1983, the Mansfield Center fosters globally minded leaders of integrity. Guided by Mansfield’s example, the center’s work emphasizes civil exchanges of ideas from a diverse range of viewpoints, the importance of democratic institutions, the integration of international relations and the role that ethical values play in public life.

For more information on the Mansfield Ethics and Public Affairs Program, visit www.umt.edu/mansfield or call 406-243-2988.

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Contact: Sarah Ward, communications manager, UM Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, 406-243-6932, sarah.ward@mso.umt.edu.