Life has been a whirlwind for Agnes Scott student Madison Jennings since she heard she is bound for the United Kingdom to be a part of the Rhodes Scholars program.
Jennings and 31 other students from across the country will be in the postgraduate program at Oxford next year, where she plans to pursue a master’s in Public Policy and a Master of Science in Public Policy Research.
“I love keeping my head in a book but I also love being out in the community with people taking everything that I’ve learned and applying it to – using that wisdom – that information then brings it out to the people I know,” Jennings said.
Jennings, a Savannah native, is part of the first generation of her family to go to college.
She and UGA student Mariah Cady were selected from over 2,500 applicants to participate in this three-year fellowship with other notable recipients like former President Bill Clinton, news correspondent George Stephaopolus, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Corey Booker (D- NJ).
“I want to have a positive change in the world but also in my local community, always remembering Georgia and carrying that out to the world,” Jennings said.
She was already making a worldly impact when she studied abroad in Jordan and worked on a project with the Carter Center in Liberia.
“Agnes Scott has a unique focus on global learning so being able to study abroad changed the direction of my academic endeavors like studying abroad in Jordan and picking up a focus on women’s rights in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region has been very transformative,” Jennings said.
Jennings also said that she wants to put an international spotlight on the Gullah culture she grew up around while living on the Georgia coast.
“The Gullah people were once enslaved Africans on the coasts of Georgia, Florida, South and North Carolina and have been able to preserve their unique heritage because a lot of the enslavers would be further inland so they were able to cultivate their own identity,” Jennings said.
Jennings hopes that her success will encourage more Black Americans to apply to the program. Although the recognition has been awarded to international students since 1903, it wasn’t until 1979 that an African American female became a Rhodes Scholar.
As a Black woman, Jennings thinks being a member of this prominent list of fellows is groundbreaking, and she is now a part of that legacy. She also feels that Black women have something to bring to the program, no matter their interests.
“I’m always reminded of this quote from Toni Cade Bambara, ‘revolution begins in the self and then it works out into the community,’ so I believe in change. I believe in progress and that’s something that I want people to know about me,” Jennings said.
In addition to Black women, she also wants to expose Black girls to this opportunity and not be afraid to reach for their dreams.
“Have the audacity to go for it. You have to have the audacity to know that what you bring to the world is worth it and that it will create a positive impact. Keep shooting all the shots you can even when there are none, just keep going,” Jennings said.
Jennings graduates from Agnes Scott next semester and will begin her studies with the Rhodes Scholars program at Oxford University next fall.