GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College student Matthew Troy has accepted an internship for the summer of 2012 with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. While there, he plans to work with U.S. groups that advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to help those groups expand internationally.

Troy also was offered an internship in the Office of the Secretary, but he chose the Bureau internship instead because he felt that position would let him do "more substantive work on projects and less 'busy work' to accommodate the executives."

Troy, a junior from Mason, Ohio, also has been named one of the Top 12 Student Leaders in Action in America by Campus Pride, an organization dedicated to improving college campus climates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students nationwide. He received that honor for guiding a group of students through the process of establishing Greensboro College's Gay-Straight Alliance. That process involved seeking the approval of officials not only at the college but also in the United Methodist Church. He also worked with students at other Greensboro-area campuses on assessing conditions for LGBT students.

He also was recognized on the basis of his scholarship and general campus service. He has a 3.8 grade-point average while double-majoring in mathematics and political science, with minors in humanities, ethics, and women's and gender studies. He has served as a residence advisor; leader of the student community supervisors for Village 401, the campus's main service organization; president of the student honors organization; Executive Treasurer of Student Government; and a member of Pride Productions, the college's campus-activities board. He designed a "get connected" program in which new students at Greensboro College fill out a survey and are contacted to get involved with student organizations immediately. He also recently redesigned the Student Government Association to expand from five to 29 leadership positions, covering every aspect of the college.

A member of the men's tennis team, he represents the student body on the Board of Trustees. As the college's representative on the N.C. Campus Compact Student Advisory Board, he led a team that made a presentation at the state conference, and a 15-page guide that he developed was sent out to more than 30 student leaders in North Carolina. He also is a student ambassador and fund raiser for the national anti-hunger organization Share our Strength.

In the summer of 2011, Troy worked as an intern at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he redesigned a leadership course for the Chief of National Training that is now a mandatory course for all FEMA supervisors.

Troy credits the college's Office of Career Exploration and Development and its director and associate director, Brent Atwater and Brandi Phillips, for his success.

"I appreciate their pushing me to perfect my cover letter and resume, and I keep their interview tips in my front drawer to always be prepared," he says.

Greensboro College's Office of Career Exploration and Development operates an Exploratory Studies program that begins working with first-year students to help them discover where their skills, talents and interests lie so that they can identify their calling in life. The program is funded by a $100,000 grant from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation as part of the college's Pride in the Future capital campaign.

For more information about the program, contact Brent Atwater at 336-272-7102, ext. 370, or brent.atwater@greensboro.edu. For more information on the Pride in the Future capital campaign, contact Carolyn DeFrancesco, vice president for Institutional Advancement, at 336-272-7102, ext. 223, or carolyn.defrancesco@greensboro.edu.

Greensboro College, an independent, coeducational college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, is an academic and social community that unites the liberal arts and Judeo-Christian values in an atmosphere of diversity and mutual respect.

Founded in 1838 and located near downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,250 students from 32 states, the District of Columbia and 24 nations in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features an 18-sport athletic program and dozens of service and recreational organizations.

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Media Contact:
Lex Alexander, Director of External Relations
lex.alexander@greensboro.edu

Greensboro College
815 W. Market St.
Greensboro, NC  27401
336-272-7102 ext. 398
Cell: 336-707-6617
www.greensboro.edu

Junior Matthew Troy, winner of a State Department internship