A Kansas University junior is a finalist for the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

Travis Weller, Garden City, is one of 212 finalists for the scholarships, which provide up to $30,000 for undergraduate and graduate study. About 75 scholarships will be awarded next month.

If he wins, Weller plans to use the money to study sexual violence and ways to prevent it, particularly from the male perspective.

“I think it makes sense,” the sociology major said. “If it comes down to paying for victim services or paying for prevention programs, you should go with services. But you have to look at the cause as well, and that means talking to men.”

Between 800 and 1,000 students annually apply for Truman Scholarships. Weller will be interviewed March 7 in Kansas City, Mo., with other finalists from Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

The committee will select at least one Truman scholar from each state. There are two other finalists from Kansas — Kansas State University students Sarah Ashley and Mindi Russell.

Weller’s goals include a master’s degree in sociology and a law degree. Someday he would like to teach at a university and develop a center for the study of sexual violence.

Weller already is working in the area. As men’s outreach coordinator for KU, a position in the Student Development Center, he makes presentations about how men can prevent sexual violence. He also co-founded the KU Men Can Stop Rape group and is in Student Senate.

Travis Weller, a Kansas University junior from Garden City, is a finalist for the Truman Scholarship. Weller says he would use the scholarship money to study sexual violence.

Since 1981, 15 KU students have been named Truman scholars. Most recently, Karrigan Bork and Robert Chamberlain won scholarships in 2001.

The scholarships, named after Harry S. Truman, the nation’s 33rd president, are funded by the Truman Foundation in Washington, D.C. Winners receive $3,000 for their senior year of college, then $9,000 a year for three years of graduate study.