St. Scholastica Student Wins Udall Scholarship

Dylan Kesti of Duluth, a student at The College of St. Scholastica, has been awarded a Morris K. Udall Scholarship. He is the first St. Scholastica student to win the national honor.

The scholarship includes $5,000 for tuition, room and board or other educational purposes, as well as expenses-paid participation in a four-day conference in Arizona to meet with other Udall Scholars, elected officials and environmental activists.

Kesti is the son of Tom and Sharon Kesti of Duluth.

The Udall Scholarship recognizes and nurtures students whose college course work, extracurricular activities and post-baccalaureate academic plans show promise of future contributions to the environment. Eighty scholarships are being awarded nationwide this year, from among more than 500 applicants.

The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation was authorized in 1992 to honor Congressman Udall's legacy of public service.

"Attending the Udall scholar orientation and conference is going to be a fantastic opportunity to meet and dialogue with others who are knowledgeable and passionate about the future of the nexus of environment and development," Kesti said. "We will learn, grow, and attempt to create solutions together; creating a bond that will be invaluable when working in this arena in the future."

Kesti will graduate from The College of St. Scholastica in spring 2010 with a double major in communication and a self-designed second major in global politics, which incorporates his studies in Norway, Ghana, and Washington, DC.

"Dylan is a very passionate, intelligent student-activist who is also humble and open to new ideas," said Hong-Ming Liang, assistant professor of history. "I have no doubt that with this honor he will continue to dedicate himself to the cause of environmental, as well as other forms of social justice."

Kesti is active in St. Scholastica's Earth Action student organization and initiated and chairs the St. Scholastica Environmental Sustainability Coalition, a group of faculty, students and staff whose goal is achieving institutional commitment to carbon neutrality. He hopes to have a career leading a non-governmental organization that formulates environmental solutions and promotes social justice simultaneously as inseparable issues.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges of the Midwest. The 2009 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St. Scholastica as one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among U.S. colleges and universities.