Five recent University of Richmond graduates head to Oxford as Jepson Scholars

An excited buzz filled Jepson Hall as students gathered on a February morning to meet University of Richmond alumnus Robert S. Jepson Jr., B’64, GB’75, H’87. They listened raptly as the Jepson School of Leadership Studies benefactor talked about the Jepson Scholars Program, which offers all-expenses-paid scholarships to one-year master’s programs at the University of Oxford for some of the school’s most outstanding graduating seniors. But gaining admission to Oxford is no small feat, Jepson acknowledged.

He offered Jepson Scholar hopefuls this advice: “Oxford is looking for people who want to change the world.”

Three months later at a Commencement weekend ceremony, Jepson School Dean Sandra Peart recognized five Class of 2026 Jepson Scholars who want to do just that: Samuel Chanenson, Abigail Green, Emerson Linden, Daniel Polonia, and Jacob Schumer.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Chanenson, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, seized every opportunity to conduct research as an undergraduate majoring in leadership studies and psychology. He presented his senior honors thesis on the relationship between mindsets and symptoms of depression and anxiety at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Convention in Chicago in February. Now he is looking forward to pursuing a Master of Science in applied digital health at Oxford.

“I’m passionate about how to make clinical care effective,” he said. “I want to match my interests and the critical-thinking skills I developed in my leadership studies and psychology classes to meet novel digital health challenges.”

HIGHER EDUCATION

Green of Brentwood, Tennessee, and Polonia, of North Baldwin, New York, believe higher education is the best forum for them to address social inequities. They will enroll in Oxford’s Master of Science in higher education program.

“I have a strong passion for research, but it was faculty mentorship that solidified my career goal of becoming a college professor,” said Green. At Richmond, she majored in leadership studies; philosophy, politics, economics, and law (PPEL); and Italian studies. For her senior honors thesis, she researched the communications of top administrators from four Virginia public universities in response to current events since 2020.

A leadership studies and rhetoric and communication studies major, Polonia completed an independent study on how increasing numbers of women in higher education have affected the public’s perception of academia. He also gained invaluable hands-on experience in higher education by working in a variety of campus roles, including serving as a head resident for three years. “I decided the best way to change minds is to work in higher education where the mission is to center the common good and search for new truths,” he said.

SOCIAL POLICY

Linden of St. Louis, Missouri, and Schumer of Newton, Connecticut, will enroll in Oxford’s Master of Science in comparative social policy in the fall. They explored their interest in social policy through classes in their double majors in leadership studies and political science and through their credit-bearing Jepson School internships.

During her internship with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Linden worked on policy issues ranging from predatory lending to housing and utility affordability to welfare access. She researched state participation rates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for her senior seminar. “Ultimately, I want to research how to break cycles of intergenerational poverty,” she said.

A summer internship with the Democratic staff of the House Ways and Means Committee, the U.S. House of Representatives’ chief tax-writing committee, gave Schumer the chance to research how funding changes would affect healthcare policy. His senior seminar paper explored the prospect of universal healthcare in the United States. He hopes to continue his research on healthcare policy at Oxford. “I want to see how other nations have instituted successful social safety nets and bring that knowledge back to the U.S.,” he said.

PAYING IT FORWARD

Mr. Jepson applauds the Jepson Scholars’ enthusiasm for making a positive difference in the world. He knows a little about that himself. His vision and largesse led to the 1992 founding of the Jepson School as the nation’s first undergraduate school of leadership studies. In 2019, he and his wife, Alice Andrews Jepson, created the Jepson Scholars Program to fully fund a post-graduate experience at Oxford for some of the Jepson School’s top graduating seniors.

“By combining a world-class undergraduate education with a world-class graduate education, the Jepson Scholars Program catapults our vision of creating future global leaders to the next level,” Peart said.

This year’s cohort of five brings to 32 the number of Jepson Scholars since the program’s inception.