Junior Cade Czarnecki named 2025 Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service Scholar
University of Notre Dame junior Cade Czarnecki is among 20 recipients of a 2025 Key Into Public Service Scholarship from Phi Beta Kappa. He is Notre Dame’s fifth Key Into Public Service Scholar since the program was established in 2020.
The Key Into Public Service Scholarship highlights the wide range of opportunities for arts, humanities, natural and social science and mathematics majors to pursue careers in the public sector.
A political science and economics major from Ohio, Czarnecki worked closely with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame in applying for the award.
"It was a pleasure working with Cade on his application for this award as he had so many great accomplishments to share with reviewers,” Elise Rudt-Moorthy, associate director of national fellowships at CUSE, said. “He truly seeks to unite liberal arts students across the act of public policy through his on campus clubs like BridgeND and off campus internships."
Czarnecki is an Undergraduate Democracy Fellow, a teaching assistant and president of BridgeND, a “multi-partisan” political club. From September to December of last year, he studied and explored abroad in Greece.
Away from campus, he was an intern with the Department of Commerce and for the campaign of Judge Marilyn Zayas in Ohio. He also clerked for a law firm in Ohio. In his free time, he leads a small group of students who volunteer at Logan Center in South Bend.
Czarnecki will spend the upcoming summer working as a Poverty Research Fellow at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunity, where he will focus on evidence-based solutions to poverty. Long term, he intends to pursue a law degree in order to translate his research experience into actionable policy change.
“I am very grateful to be selected for the Phi Beta Kappa Society Key into Public Service Scholarship. I see this award as a reflection of my dedication to building a better future for my country and its people, something I take great pride in,” Czarnecki said. “I would particularly like to thank Elise Rudt-Moorthy and Grace Song of Notre Dame’s Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement for their advice and support in the application process. Their guidance helped me reflect on how my college experience has prepared me to, in Notre Dame’s words, be a force for good in the world.”
He continued, “I look forward to attending the associated conference in Washington, D.C. this summer. I trust that this unique opportunity will further bring into focus the many routes toward careers that affect real, meaningful change in the public sphere.”
For more on this and other scholarship opportunities, visit cuse.nd.edu.
Latest ND News Wire
- Gen. Martin Dempsey to speak at Notre Dame Forum event on ‘Hope, Global Stability and the Role of the United States’Gen. Martin Dempsey, the retired 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will join University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., for a fireside chat at 4 p.m. Friday (Oct. 10), as part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum. The discussion, titled “Hope, Global Stability and the Role of the United States,” is part of the exploration of this year’s Notre Dame Forum theme, “Cultivating Hope.” It will take place in Rooms 215/216 of McKenna Hall and will also be livestreamed. The event is free and open to the public.
- University of Notre Dame joins the Global Coalition of Ukrainian StudiesThe University of Notre Dame has joined the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies after signing a memorandum of cooperation, formalized Sept. 24, at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City. Notre Dame joined four other American institutions that were also publicly welcomed to the coalition at this event: Arizona State University, Columbia University, Manor College and the Shevchenko Scientific Society.
- Alumni Association and YoungND honor 2025 Domer DozenThe Notre Dame Alumni Association announced its 2025 Domer Dozen cohort, honoring 12 graduates ages 32 and younger for excellence in their contributions in learning, service, faith and work — the core pillars of the association’s mission.
- Notre Dame School of Architecture poised for global leadership through historic investmentThe $150 million gift represents an unprecedented commitment in the 160-year history of American architectural education. In recognition of this landmark gift, the school will be renamed the Matthew and Joyce Walsh School of Architecture at Notre Dame.
- Board of Trustees announces external investigation into allegations of past sexual misconduct by former rectorThe University of Notre Dame today announced that the University’s Board of Trustees has convened a special committee at the request of President Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C., and John Veihmeyer, chair of the Board of Trustees, to oversee an external investigation into allegations that Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C., engaged in sexual misconduct while rector of Zahm Hall, where he served from 1980 to 1997. The external investigation will be led by Helen Cantwell at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, and the key findings of the investigation will be shared with the University community.
- Notre Dame Democracy Initiative hosts bipartisan conversation with Western state governorsTwo Western state governors known to work across the aisle on policy issues such as water, housing and energy will visit the University of Notre Dame for a fireside chat about how Western state pragmatism can serve as a model for the country to overcome polarization.
