Two Georgetown University students were named last week to the All-USA College Academic Team Program sponsored by USA Today.

Sarah Wappett (COL ’06) and Terra White (COL ’05) were two of 20 college students across the nation named to the Third Team, in addition to 40 other college students named to the First and Second Team. First Team students receive a $2,500 cash award.

“Georgetown is pleased to see Terra White and Sarah Wappett honored,” Jane MacAuliffe, dean of the College, said in a university press release. “They represent the best of Georgetown, students committed not only to academic excellence, but also to personal excellence.”

Wappett was recognized for her research exploring how counter-networks used against the Mafia might be useful against terrorist cells. In 2004, she received a Department of Homeland Security scholarship that provides two years of tuition and a $2,000 monthly stipend. She also interned for ten weeks in the summer at the DHS.

“I was honestly surprised to get it. I knew most of the candidates from Georgetown, and it was an incredibly talented pool,” Wappett said from her study-abroad site in Florence, Italy.

Wappett was compelled to investigate organized crime after her own father endured threats from the Mafia.

“The Mafia went after my family because my father was prosecuting a consigliore,” Wappett said. “I started as a government major for law and a biology major for forensic evidence. Now I have an Italian minor, a very focused and independent study of the Mafia, and a full scholarship from the Department of Homeland Security. I hope to continue my work to apply the logic to the terrorist model.”

White investigated the prevalence of learning disabilities among the prison population. She also served on the executive board of the Georgetown University Prison Outreach program.

“Obviously I was very surprised to win the award … my parents were really excited,” White said. “I had been working with the prison outreach program since freshman year, and my research came out of my tutoring experience with one particular inmate who had a learning disability, which caught [my attention].”

With funding from the John Carroll program, she conducted research on prisoners with learning disabilities two summers ago.

“I gave the results back to the facility in the hopes that it can give the jail administration a better idea of the characteristics of the inmates, with the hope they can develop better programs.”

Both students are John Carroll Fellows. Wappett served as a member of the varsity women’s soccer team and as captain of the Mock Trial team.

White is a sociology and English major and is active in the Georgetown University Saxatones, a co-ed service-based a cappella group.