As Associated Student Government Speaker of the Senate, Richard Caldarone said he has seen too much political apathy at Northwestern.
“Even based on the informal comments you hear, it’s a problem,” he said.
Now he will have the chance to discover a solution to that apathy thousands of miles away.
Caldarone, who received a Marshall Scholarship in December, will study the roots of political disconnection and solutions under the fellowship.
Caldarone and Robert C. Johnson, Weinberg ’00, are two of 40 students nationwide who received the prestigious award. The fellowship, which is sponsored by the British government, pays for two years of undergraduate or graduate study in England.
This is the second consecutive year NU has had two Marshall scholars, a feat accomplished in part by advising from the Office of Fellowships, which is in its fourth year.
Caldarone and Johnson first applied through the Office of Fellowships, and each submitted an application including a 1000-word personal statement and a 500-word proposed plan of study. After advancing to the district level, they were selected for 30-minute interviews.
Caldarone, a Music and Weinberg fifth-year senior, has applied to Oxford University’s program in philosophy, politics and economics.
He said he first became interested in political disconnection at a program he attended last summer. There, he learned that the causes of political apathy in the United States are similar to those in other countries. During the fellowship, he wants to study ways to reverse the trend.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of discussion about solutions (during the program), and I want to look into that,” he said.
Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, will use the award to study at the London School of Economics and Political Science, according to a press release. He plans to study ways to develop economic policy in undeveloped countries.
After graduating with an economics degree from NU in June, he enrolled as a Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., where he works in public finance, globalization and social protection, and democratic participation in economic reform.
