Award Winning Student Dreaming of White House

With an outstanding record of scholarly achievement, Brandon Thibodeaux, CBA senior, is the national recipient of the Una Chapman Cox fellowship for foreign services and recently received a prestigious Mitchell Scholarship to study in Ireland. Sponsored by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance in honor of former senator George J. Mitchell, the scholarship allows recipients to pursue one year of post-graduate study in Ireland to engage future American leaders with the island of Ireland. Thibodeaux is one of 12 students selected nationwide to receive the Mitchell.

"My accomplishments and the Mitchell would not have been possible without the support, encouragement, and advice of Dean O’Brien and the faculty and staff of the College of Business. I am eternally indebted to them," stated Thibodeaux. He was also a semi-finalist for such highly competitive scholarships as the National Truman scholarship and the Pamela Harriman fellowship.

Thibodeaux was proud to receive the Una Chapman Cox fellowship, which defrayed the costs of living abroad as he served as an economic analyst for the

U.S. Embassy in Paris last summer. He describes his summer abroad as "the most amazing experience of my life; it was humbling." Working side by side with a Brown University student, he discovered that his responsibilities equaled and often exceeded that of his ivy-league counterparts.

The Una Chapman Cox fellowship is only one of many honors Thibodeaux has received during his undergraduate years at Loyola. Thibodeaux was one of three finalists selected from the 19 other interns working at the Embassy for the Pamela Harriman fellowship. The competition included a stressful final round against a student from Harvard and another from John Hopkins. Despite the intensity of the competition, Thibodeaux found it "comforting to be placed among the best and the brightest," and felt that Loyola had prepared him well.

Thibodeaux was also a finalist for a National Truman scholarship. He describes the application process as a "growing experience" that has helped prepare him for further competitions. He also applied for a Rhodes scholarship, the Gates Cambridge fellowship, the Marshall scholarship, and a Fulbright scholarship.

Thibodeaux’s post graduation plans include acquiring a master’s degree in international relations with an emphasis on international economics. He plans to focus on international economics in hopes of entering the Ivy League. His long-term plans include returning to Louisiana five years into his law degree and serving as governor. If you ask him if he hopes to one day be president, he’ll laugh and say, "How did you know?" When asked which party he plans to affiliate with, he smiled, reluctantly admitting that he is leaning towards the right but most of his support has come from the left.

When questioning Thibodeaux about his extracurricular involvement, it is better to ask which organizations he is not involved in than which ones with which he is associated. He is currently working on the construction of an honor code and court initiative. The honor court allows students to judge their peers for infractions, which may include but are not limited to cheating, plagiarism, and "conduct not befitting a Loyola student."

Thibodeaux helped draft the honor code to reflect Jesuit ideals in purpose and form. He met with faculty in the philosophy department and scholars of St. Ignatius to ensure the honor code was in keeping with Jesuit teachings and traditions. "Education of the whole person is the most important thing at Loyola," he says. "Academics and social service are cultivated here." The honor code is awaiting faculty approval but may be implemented as early as this spring.

Thibodeaux is also organizing the laptop initiative that aims to supply every business student with a laptop computer. He believes "it is necessary for graduates, especially accounting and finance majors, to have computer skills and a working knowledge of the software driving their respective fields." Thibodeaux is an active member of the Students for Free Enterprise, a service group advocating the "social responsibilities of business." Some of the group’s activities include helping college students budget their finances and reaching the greater Loyola community by providing lessons to the elderly for using the Internet.

Thibodeaux has played an indispensable role in bringing honors and name recognition to Loyola.

—Sunday Angleton, A’04

College of Business Administration
Campus Box 15
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118