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Clemson University Honors student Helen Bailey from Mechanicsville, Maryland, was named a finalist for the Truman Scholarship, the premier scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States.
Bailey, an environmental and natural resources major, was one of 201 finalists from 137 colleges and universities nationwide.
The scholarship, named in honor of the late U.S. President Harry S. Truman, provides up to $30,000 for graduate study and leadership training. It recognizes high-achieving college students who demonstrate a commitment to leadership, public service and the potential to continue that service beyond graduation.
“It would be such an honor to join the list of scholars representing President Truman’s lasting legacy,” said Bailey. “I am so excited to move forward in the process and am proud of my accomplishments and hard work to get to this point.”
Bailey grew up on a Christmas tree farm in southern Maryland, where she learned at an early age to hunt and fish. She also experienced first-hand the delicate balance between wildlife and the environment – and the difference between preservation and conservation.
“It is important to understand the difference in forms of environmental management between conservation and preservation,” said Bailey. “Conservation as a wise use principle encompasses ethical hunting, while preservation leaves the environment untouched.”
Bailey sees conservation as critical to environmental management and natural resource protection — and ethical hunting as vital to the success of conservation efforts.
Although managing wildlife can help address overpopulation issues that play an important role in ecological balance, only 4% of Americans currently hunt.
Results of a recent U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service study also indicate a decline in the number of Americans who hunt or fish.
Bailey started working in high school to change that, testifying before the Maryland Education, Health, and Environment Senate Committee on a Sunday Hunting Bill for her county.
The bill, which supported Sunday hunting for all waterfowl and game birds in St. Mary’s County on private and select public lands, did not pass as intended, but the experience taught Bailey valuable lessons about the legislative and policy-making process.
She applied those learnings to her advocacy work as an undergraduate student at Clemson, creating a new chapter of the Collegiate Sportsmen and Women Coalition of the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation.
Building the chapter became one of Bailey’s favorite Clemson experiences, especially as the student-led group began to grow. Now one of the country’s largest and most active, the chapter is seen as a model for other university campuses and continues to expand, with Bailey assisting in organizing new chapters throughout the southeast.
Bailey also revitalized and leads the only student-led, collegiate chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) in South Carolina. Earlier this month, the chapter hosted its annual hunting heritage banquet, which beat Clemson chapter and collegiate records in both participation and dollars raised.
Other accomplishments include internships with South Carolina Representative Jeff Duncan and the St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney, working as the assistant general manager of the Southern Maryland Senators (a summer collegiate baseball team in the Cal Ripken League), and playing on Clemson’s club softball team.
“Helen’s passion for getting as many people as possible excited about engaging in conservation is deeply rooted in her love of Maryland’s wildlife and outdoors spaces and is infectious,” said Robyn Curtis, Director of Clemson’s Office of Major Fellowships. “In seventeen years as a fellowship advisor, she is certainly the first student I have ever worked with who refers to Teddy Roosevelt’s model of conservation in casual conversation!”
Truman Scholarship finalists will be interviewed by the Truman Foundation’s Regional Review Panels in March and April. The foundation will announce the 2025 Class of Truman Scholars in mid-April.
Since the origin of the Truman Scholarship in 1975, five Clemson students have been named Truman Scholars: Elizabeth Caldwell in 2024, Veronica “Ronnie” Clevenstine in 2021, Ashni Bhojwani in 2020, Killian McDonald in 2017 and Joyce Baugh in 1979.
Students interested in applying for the Truman Scholarship or other major fellowships should contact the Office of Major Fellowships at 864-656-9704 or fellowships@clemson.edu.
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