Honorable Mention Winner
Craig Altemose
Eckerd College
Sophomore in International Relations
4.0 GPA

When college students feel strongly about an issue, they sometimes sign the petition being passed around campus. At Eckerd College, there’s a good chance Craig Altemose wrote the petition. The 19-year-old international relations student has been involved in countless protests and political action groups since he stepped foot on the campus two years ago.

As a freshman, Altemose was elected senator and became a member of the Model United Nations Club, in which he worked on a mock Security Council resolution debate and attended meetings of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. However, one endeavor he took on remains his most memorable. “The activity that changed the world and myself the most was joining EC Iraq Awareness,” Altemose says. “The energy, dedication, and desire to do good that were always present in those meetings was something very special to me.”

The Iraq Awareness group held petition drives against the war and distributed literature, determined to promote awareness of the situation. It even held a rally that drew hundreds of students and was broadcast on local media. Altemose attended anti-war demonstrations at MacDill Air Force Base and wrote several opinion pieces for The Triton, the college newspaper where he works as co-editor of the international section. “During this time, I truly felt that I was helping to make the world a better place,” he says.

In fact, he was so inspired by the success of EC Iraq Awareness that he and other group leaders joined forces to form The Alliance of Concerned Individuals, with Altemose leading the way as co-president. Through ACI, he urged the community to boycott Taco Bell until it agrees to pay workers higher wages. The student activist even traveled to Miami, protesting the Free Trade Area of the Americas for not protecting fair wages. Altemose educated Tampa residents about the Patriot Act, setting up notebook computer stations for students and faculty to e-mail Florida’s representatives concerning the legislation.

Altemose participates in fund-raisers for the World Hunger Awareness Club, serves food to the needy every week with the Eckerd College Homeless Outreach program, and works on environmental issues as a member of the Earth Society. “Very few people know this about him, but in high school, Craig worked at a local library and used his earnings to sponsor a child in Ecuador,” says Maria Alou, associate dean of admissions. “He’s a young man with compassion, strength in values, and a level of maturity that is atypical of a person his age.”

Altemose manages to support all of these causes while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He received Eckerd’s Outstanding First Year Student Award after a campus-wide vote. “His record of accomplishment since he’s come to college is absolutely exceptional,” says William Felice, associate professor. “He’s clearly a young man committed to making a difference in the world.”

In addition, Altemose serves as director of financial affairs for the Eckerd College Organization of Students, overseeing the finances of all student-run groups. He’s a member of the Faculty and Student Relations Committee and a student ambassador, representing his college and guiding campus tours.

Through these involvements, Altemose proves he’s not only concerned with world issues but interested in improving conditions on his campus as well.

Scholarships, including Eckerd’s prestigious Trustee Scholarship, pay for the majority of his expenses, with a student body officer’s discount and his parents making up the difference. –LD

Contact Altemose at altemocs@eckerd.edu.