Congratulations to Jarvis Benson, Jaz Brisack, John Chappell, Chinelo Ibekwe, and Marisa Kutchma! Benson, Brisack, and Chappell have been named Rhodes Scholarship finalists, Brisack and Kutchma have been named Marshall Scholarship finalists, and Ibekwe has been named a finalist for the 2018 Rhodes West Africa Scholarship!

Grenada, MS native Jarvis Benson is studying international studies and Spanish. He works on civil rights, voting rights, immigration, and education, and he is the President of the Black Student Union. Last spring, he was named a 2018 Truman Scholarship finalist for Mississippi.

Jaz Brisack is majoring in general studies and journalism. She works on labor rights, reproductive rights, and is a creative writer. Jaz is a 2018 Truman Scholar for Mississippi.

Albuquerque, NM native John Chappell studies international studies and Arabic. He co-founded Mississippi Votes and works on international human and civil rights. He is a 2018 Barksdale Award winner.

St. Louis, MO native Marisa Kutchma is studying biology, neuroscience, and chemistry. She is academic co-captain of the UM Women’s Soccer team, has co-authored a paper on toxic effects of Cannabinoids on fetal development, and plans to work with female genital mutilation victims in Sierra Leone. 

A chemical engineering major with a manufacturing engineering emphasis, Chinelo Ibekwe is from Lagos, Nigeria and graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 2018. As an undergraduate she interned with Mars, Inc., Goldman Sachs, and Medtronic, and she was a summer pre-MBA student under Dartmouth College’s Tuck Business Bridge Program. She was also a summer public policy fellow at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson school. Her long-term goal is to serve as Nigeria’s Minister of Health and use technology and investment to revitalize the country’s health sector. Chinelo will interview along with the ten other finalists in Lagos, Nigeria on December 1.

For more information on the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship, contact the Office of National Scholarship Advisement Director Tim Dolan.

These outstanding citizen scholars will travel to their interviews in Birmingham (Rhodes) and Atlanta (Marshall) in November. We are so proud!