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 NewsWire
- de Nicola Center Presents Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony & Phyllis LauingerThe de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 400 guests on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.
- Kenneth Scheve appointed dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and LettersKenneth Scheve, the Dean Acheson Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs and the dean of social science at Yale University, has been appointed the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters by University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. Scheve, who will also hold a tenured faculty position in the Department of Political Science, begins a five-year term as dean on July 1.
- Notre Dame to convene government, industry and academic leaders to set regulatory roadmap for responsible social mediaTo address the challenges posed by social media use and its effects on democracy, the University of Notre Dame is hosting the Council for Responsible Social Media and Issue One on May 27-29. Led by Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative, this National Convening on Social Media and Democracy will bring together leaders and scholars to discuss policy changes that set a serious national agenda for the next several years of governance on social media and technology, particularly as it relates to improving democratic outcomes.
- Notre Dame’s top research position endowed as John and Catherine Martin Family Vice President for ResearchJeffrey F. Rhoads, who leads Notre Dame Research, including its efforts in innovation and commercialization through the IDEA Center, will now hold the title of John and Catherine Martin Family Vice President for Research.
- Notre Dame to confer 3,099 degrees over Commencement Weekend, May 17-18The University of Notre Dame’s 180th Commencement Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18, in Notre Dame Stadium.
- Division of Student Affairs awards scholarships to student leadersThe University of Notre Dame’s Division of Student Affairs recently recognized 15 junior undergraduate students with scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year for their demonstrated leadership and ongoing commitment to the holistic development of Notre Dame students.
