Georgia students selected as 2024 Rhodes Scholars

Two Georgia college students have been selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2024. Mariah Cady, a senior at the University of Georgia, and Madison Jennings, a senior at Agnes Scott College. The Rhodes Scholarship is a prestigious honor awarded to 32 students from across the United States, providing them the opportunity to pursue graduate degrees at Oxford University in England with all costs covered.

Cady hails from Midland, Georgia, and is majoring in Russian and international affairs with minors in geography, German, and teaching English to speakers of other languages. At Oxford, she plans to earn two master’s degrees, one in linguistics, philology, and phonetics and the other in refugee and forced migration studies. Cady, who already speaks eight languages, including German, Russian, and Arabic, aims to enhance her linguistic skills for a future career as a diplomat. She is currently studying abroad in Kazakhstan through the UGA Russian Flagship Program.

Jennings is from Savannah and is a political science major at Agnes Scott College. She serves as the president of the pre-law society and is a Carter Center intern. At the Carter Center, Jennings has been involved in supporting civil society organizations in Liberia and identifying policing alternatives in Georgia. In addition to her academic pursuits, she has worked on creating mobile children’s libraries in Savannah through the organization Pop Up Library for Peace and is a ballet dancer. Jennings plans to pursue two master’s degrees at Oxford, one in public policy and another in public policy research.

To be selected as a Rhodes Scholar, applicants must be endorsed by their college or university. More than 2,500 students began the application process this year, with 862 students receiving endorsements from 249 schools. The scholarship covers all costs and is estimated to have a total value of $75,000 per year. The Rhodes Scholarship has a long history, with the first group of American Rhodes Scholars arriving at Oxford in 1904.