Evanston Township High School Student Named Presidential Scholar

EVANSTON, IL — A senior at Evanston Township High School was honored last week as a member of the 59th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars.

Emmet Ebels-Duggan is one of just three students in Illinois and 161 across the nation to earn the prestigious recognition.

The scholarship is invitation-only, with winners chosen based on academic records, essays, school evaluations and commitment to community service and leadership.

Ebels-Duggan, who set to attend Harvard University in the fall, is has been a coordinator for the climate policy group E-Town Sunrise, a member of Evanston's participatory budgeting steering committee, ETHS's climate curriculum committee and a climate justice conference planning committee.

Last November, Ebels-Duggan was one of five Chicago area representatives at the COP27 United Nations global climate conference in Egypt as part of the local climate activist group It's Our Future.

During the conference, Ebels-Duggan had the opportunity to interview John Podesta, President Joe Bidens senior adviser for clean energy innovation and implementation.

After returning to Evanston, Ebels-Duggan said the most effective climate justice work comes from developing interpersonal relationships with policymakers.

"That looks like working in our communities, working with our city and county governments, and even state governments, which are often far more accessible than one might think," Ebels-Duggan told the Daily Northwestern.

The presidential scholars program was created in 1964, expanding in 1979 to include artistic excellence and in 2015 to recognize students who excel in career and technical education fields.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the awards are given to at least one male student and one female student from every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars also selects another 20 scholars in the arts, 20 in career and technical education and 15 at-large.

Academic winners, like Ebels-Duggan, qualify through their standardized test scores. Students in the arts and technical divisions are nominated by school officials or through the YoungArts program.

A total of 3.6 million applications was whittled down to 5,000 candidates, who also included ETHS students Max Smith and Rex Wallin.

That group was narrowed to 628 semifinalists, including 21 in Illinois, before this years presidential scholars were revealed Wednesday.

This years other winners from Illinois are both from Naperville — Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy student Yina Wang and Waubonsie Valley High School student Maxwell Neri, who was named a presidential scholar in career and technical education.

All 161 high school seniors will be recognized over the summer in an online recognition program.