A West Virginia University student committed to advocacy, justice and scholarship has been named the University’s 27th Truman Scholar, earning one of the nation’s top graduate fellowships.
Sophie Slaughter, a native of Culloden and member of the Honors College, is the recipient of the prestigious annual award given to college juniors with exceptional leadership potential and a commitment to public service.
“Sophie truly understands the value of public service and has found purpose in work to improve the lives of others,” President Gordon Gee said. “When I met Sophie, it was clear how much drive Sophie has to make West Virginia and the world a better place.”
Slaughter, a junior double majoring in history and women’s and gender studies, envisions a future where everyone has what they need to live safe, healthy and self-directed lives.
Slaughter said they believe public service is the best way to champion that ideal.
“At the core of my advocacy is a belief that all people deserve care and community and it’s this insistence on well-being that pushes me toward abolition feminism,” they said.
“It imagines futures where violence is prevented or mediated in ways that repair relationships rather than seek revenge. The things that abolition feminism asks of us are hard — it’s not easy to look squarely at the pain we cause others or admit that we’ve neglected the well-being of our community members.”
In Slaughter’s view, advocacy is one of the keys to creating a world where everyone is cared for adequately.
“When Sophie talks about being an abolition feminist, transforming the criminal legal system and advocating for Appalachia, her passion is palpable,” said Jay Cole, Truman Scholarship advisor and senior advisor to President Gee. “They also have a depth of knowledge about these issues born of intense curiosity and careful study. I am delighted that Sophie is now a part of the proud WVU Truman tradition.”
As a leader in the Appalachian Advocacy Network, a student organization working to connect young people to political processes in West Virginia, Slaughter is involved in political and legislative advocacy across the state.
“One of the things that we engage most in is citizen lobbying efforts,” they explained. “That looks like sending people down to the West Virginia Legislature, sharing legislative updates and training folks to engage in both of those forms of work, which I honestly think is one of the more important parts of what we do.”
For Slaughter, legislative and community-level efforts are interconnected.
“It’s necessary that both legislative advocacy and work that is more directly impactful are happening at the same time,” they said.
In academic work, Slaughter focuses on the intersection of incarceration, public memory and education. Her most recent research examines the transformation of the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville from a functioning prison into a tourist attraction.
“I’m studying the ways that even spaces that no longer hold people who are incarcerated still have the potential to reproduce the prison industrial complex, both ideologically and materially,” they said.
Slaughter is also exploring carceral pedagogies, educational materials and experiences that legitimize the dehumanization often associated with incarceration without context and humanity.
“Public service, and policy work more specifically, allows us to operate both in the present moment and in the future,” they said. “While I don’t think we can legislate our way out of the prison industrial complex, we can use those existing avenues to begin the work of preventing people from going in, helping people get out and defunding carceral facilities.”
Slaughter, who plans to pursue a master’s degree and doctorate in history with a focus on Appalachian studies and critical prison studies, is recognized as a campus leader with a deep commitment to justice.
They volunteer with the Appalachian Prison Book Project as well as with the West Virginia Innocence Project at the WVU College of Law, a project that aims to serve and free people who are in prison for crimes they did not commit. They also serve as president of the Eta Chapter of Iota Iota Iota, the Women’s and Gender Studies honors society.
“Sometimes people take an approach to service that says, ‘I have something to give to you,’” Slaughter said. “But I think it’s really important to recognize that we all have something to give and to share — and we also all need something.”
With the Truman Scholarship, they join a national network of scholars who are paving the way in public service, law, advocacy and scholarship. However, Slaughter remains focused on the people and communities that helped them reach this goal.
“I’m the person who’s receiving the benefits of this award, and it’s an honor and I’m so thankful,” they said. “But none of this happens alone. Me being a Truman Scholar is the result of so much support from my Morgantown and WVU communities. I am just feeling very aware of that and feeling very appreciative of the many people who have gotten me here.”
Support for Slaughter’s application was provided by the WVU ASPIRE Office, which helps students pursue nationally competitive scholarships.
