CGA Alum continues to pursue a life of public service

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Contact: USCGA Public Affairs Office: (860) 444-8270 After Hours: (860) 857-5544 Academy online newsroom

CGA Alum continues to pursue a life of public service

NEW LONDON, Conn., — Melissa McCafferty, a 2011 Coast Guard Academy graduate, has been named a 2020 Tillman Scholar.

The Tillman Scholar program offers academic fellowship for military service members, veterans and spouses who are dedicated to public service.

McCafferty graduated with high honors as a Government major with a dual concentration in public policy and international affairs. As a cadet, McCafferty also received a Truman Scholarship in 2010 that allowed her to pursue a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

While at the Academy, McCafferty founded the Spectrum Council which provides a support network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual cadets and creates an educational experience dedicated to the retention, development and commissioning of culturally and socially competent junior officers.

As a Coast Guard officer, she served as operations officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard Webber. She was later selected to serve as part of the Commandant’s Advisory Group, which advised then Commandant, Adm. Paul Zukunft on policy, national affairs and strategy. During the 2017 hurricane season, she deployed to assist in the service’s response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. 

McCafferty saw the Coast Guard was a natural fit for her desired educational and life goals, helping to prepare her for a life in public service through law and politics. With the Tillman scholarship she plans to attend Georgetown University Law Center as an incoming law student where she hopes to study criminal law and continue to pursue a life of public service.

 

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