St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge recently selected two seniors, Hunter Ridley from Augustana College (IL) and Lexi Covalsen from Oglethorpe University (GA), to receive 2020 Davies-Jackson Scholarships, a program administered by CIC. Intended for applicants with exceptional academic records who are among the first generation in their families to graduate from college, the scholarships provide full support for two years of study at St. John’s College, including travel to and from England.

Covalsen, an English major at Oglethorpe University, will continue her studies to earn a second BA at St. John’s as an affiliated student in English. Crediting her undergraduate experience at Oglethorpe with her success, Covalsen remarked, “I would not have been able to achieve this opportunity to study at Cambridge without the guidance and community my professors and fellow Ogles have given me these past four years.”

Ridley, a geography major at Augustana, will continue her studies toward a second BA in that field. She is the second student from Augustana College to have been selected to receive the scholarship and is the first recipient to apply successfully to read in geography. For Ridley, “Receiving the Davies-Jackson Scholarship seems life-changing. I feel as though I am about to set out on the greatest adventure of my academic and personal life thus far.”

Covalsen and Ridley were the two semi-finalists selected by the Davies-Jackson Scholarship U.S. Selection Committee for consideration by St. John’s College. With these awards, a total of 33 students will have been able to continue their education at Cambridge through the Davies-Jackson Scholarship program.

Named after two Cambridge fellows who tutored the anonymous donor during his years at Cambridge—Hugh Sykes Davies and R. Meredith Jackson—the award program began in 1990 and was initially administered by the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education that later became an operating part of the Council of Independent Colleges. CIC began administering the scholarship in 2003. The list of eligible institutions has expanded over the years and now includes 500 CIC member institutions. View more information about the program.