<p>FSU student Joe O'Shea of Dunedin, Florida has been named a Rhodes Scholar for 2008.</p>
<p>(See District VII)</p>
<p>Congratulations, Joe!</p>
<p>See: The</a> Associated Press: Rhodes Scholars Named for 2008</p>
<p>From the Tallahassee Democrat: <a href="http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/BREAKINGNEWS/711200369%5B/url%5D">http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/BREAKINGNEWS/711200369</a></p>
<p>For the second time in two years, a Florida State University student has been named a Rhodes Scholar, one of the most prestigious academic achievements in the world.</p>
<p>Thousands of FSU fans didn't mob Bobby Bowden Field in wild celebration after Monday's announcement that Joseph O'Shea of Dunedin was one of only 32 U.S. students to win Rhodes Scholarships for the upcoming year.</p>
<p>But Mr. O'Shea's extraordinary feat is every bit as deserving of FSU pride as any athletic victory, as illustrated by President T.K. Wetherell's emotional response to the news.</p>
<p>The teary-eyed head Seminole gave Mr. O'Shea, Florida State's student-body president, a bear hug at the news conference where the announcement was made.</p>
<p>"I'm so proud of you, son," Mr. Wetherell said.</p>
<p>FSU supporters and everyone else who cares about the importance of academics and community service should be proud, too.</p>
<p>Besides being a Truman Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa and USA Today Top 10 All Academic First Team member, Mr. O'Shea also started a free health clinic in New Orleans' Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina ravaged that neighborhood.</p>
<p>That's not all. In addition, he founded the Global Peace Exchange, a college-based program modeled after the Peace Corps.</p>
<p>A senior who's majoring in philosophy and interdisciplinary social science, the 21-year-old scholar plans to become a "social entrepreneur," combining the innovative qualities of entrepreneurialism with a desire to improve the human condition - to make the world a better place. One day, he says, he may pursue a political career.</p>
<p>Regardless of where his three-year stint at England's Oxford University leads, Mr. O'Shea sets a standard worthy of emulating: pursuing individual excellence but also remaining ever mindful of the importance of service to the community, a value that FSU emphasizes and honors.</p>
<p>Two other FSU students preceded Mr. O'Shea in becoming Rhodes Scholars: student-athlete Garrett Johnson two years ago, and writer Caroline Alexander, a one-time candidate for the World Games pentathlon, selected in 1976.</p>
<p>Congratulations are due, of course, to Mr. O'Shea. But they're also due to his teachers and mentors, at FSU and elsewhere. Without them, this exceptional young man would not be where he is - or where he will be in the years to come.</p>