Swat Spotlight: Jason Heo '15 Awarded Lang Scholarship
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Jason Heo '15 of the Swarthmore College track & field team is one of six Swarthmore students recently awarded the Eugene M. Lang Opportunity Scholarship.
Selection criteria for Lang Opportunity Scholarships include distinguished academic and extra-curricular achievement, leadership qualities, and demonstrated commitment to civic and social responsibility. Each scholar receives a guaranteed summer internship, educational enhancement funds, and the opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 to create a project that addresses a social problem. Students who successfully complete a project are also eligible for up to $5,000 each year for graduate studies, up to two years. The program was conceived and endowed by Eugene M. Lang '38.
Heo proposes to create Farepath, a technologically-focused mechanism for increasing food access and promoting neighborhood civic engagement, for his Lang Project. To address this issue of food access, he plans to develop an effective food acquisition mechanism to contribute to an already existing distribution infrastructure in the Philadelphia area and a technological platform that will create transparency in the current black box of donation-giving as well as offer resources for starting other chapters. By developing mapping technology through mobile applications, there is great potential for creating communities of altruism throughout areas of the country where the model can be learned and applied, repeatedly.
On the track, Heo is one of the top sprinters for the Garnet men's team. He claimed fifth place in the 60-meter hurdles (9.65) at the season-opening Jack Pyrah Invitational.
