Two Graduate School Students Receive White House Awards

Two Harvard graduate students have been appointed White House Fellows for 1974-1975.

Roger B. Porter, a doctoral candidate in the Government Department and nonresident tutor in Quincy House, and Ronald J. Naples, a third year student at the Business School, were recently selected from 1380 applicants to serve in a one-year internship program.

The program is designed to provide Americans between the ages of 23 and 35 with firsthand experience in the "process of governing the nation."

A 16-member White House Commission selects approximately 15 Fellows annually for the program, which includes assignments as assistants to senior White House staff members, the vice president, Cabinet officers, or other top government officials. In addition, the Fellows have frequent discussions with prominent figures and extensive domestic and foreign travel.

Porter, a former Rhodes Scholar and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, said White House Fellows negotiate in July for their job assignments and that a Fellow's relationship with his superior is "crucial" to the year-long experience. Porter said he would like to serve in the White House Office of Congressional Liason.

Naples, who received his B.A. from West Point and was awarded an A.M. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1972, said he would prefer to work with the secretary of the Treasury.

The five-month selection process includes several intermediary screenings and culminates in what Naples described as a "total immersion process" when the National Finalists spend three days prior to the final selection with the selection Commission in a Virginia mansion.

Porter said a massive amount of information, including an extensive FBI security clearance check, was compiled on this year's 31 finalists.

The 15 Fellows, who came primarily from the business, military and academic communities, receive salaries ranging up to $27,289 for the year. Fellows are expected to return to their former communities and professions.