38 High School Seniors Win Full Merit Scholarships to Attend UVA

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation has selected 38 high school seniors to join the Jefferson Scholars Class of 2025. They will receive the full cost of attending the University of Virginia for four years and are invited to take part in a number of enrichment programs, including a foreign travel experience and career networking opportunities.

To be considered for this highly competitive merit scholarship, students first must be nominated by their high schools. UVA alumni and friends of the foundation then evaluate and interview the nominees, ultimately selecting which ones will be invited to continue in the competition as finalists. This year approximately 2,155 students were nominated by their high schools, 125 of whom were selected as finalists.

The 38 Jefferson Scholars selected this year come from 22 states and one foreign country and will join a community of current scholars, who are active and visible leaders at the University.

“Jefferson Scholars historically have had an impressive record of leadership at the University,” said Ben Skipper, director of graduate and undergraduate programs at the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. “Since the first class joined UVA in 1981, they have held leadership positions on the Judiciary and Honor committees, Student Council, The Cavalier Daily, Madison House and countless student organizations.”

Next year there will be 145 Jefferson Scholars on Grounds.

“We are confident that these new scholars will be outstanding members of the UVA community and will bring distinction to the foundation and the University while students and as alumni,” Jimmy Wright, president of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, said.

The 38 students selected this year are:

• Rachel Bohannon, Princess Anne High School (Virginia Beach).
• Cate Bundon, Myers Park High School (Charlotte.).
• Leah Carroll, Windsor High School (Windsor).
• Campbell Coleman, Father Ryan High School (Nashville).
• Catherine Cossaboom, Chamblee Charter High School (Chamblee, Georgia).
• Anushka Dar, Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, Maryland).
• Serena Ding, Laguardia High School (New York).
• Nathaniel Doty, John Burroughs School (St. Louis).
• Maggie Doyle, Mountain Brook High School (Mountain Brook, Alabama).
• Loretta Dredger, Spotswood High School (Penn Laird).
• Tre’Mon Edmonson, Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men (Houston).
• Sophia Gibby, Signal Mountain Middle/High School (Signal Mountain, Tennessee).
• Sarah Goraya, Hathaway Brown School (Shaker Heights, Ohio).
• Kurali Grantham, Clarke Central High School (Athens, Georgia).
• Syrell Grier, Gar-Field Senior High School (Woodbridge).
• Manvi Harde, Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona).
• Mikayla Havison, Homestead High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana).
• Ava Hollis, York Community High School (Elmhurst, Illinois).
• Harper Jones, Greenwich Academy (Greenwich, Connecticut).

• Kishan Kalaria, Trinity Valley School (Fort Worth, Texas).
• Lisa Kopelnik, Head-Royce School (Oakland, California).
• Baeza Lakew, Kentlake High School (Kent, Washington).
• Ethan Marx, Indian Hill High School (Cincinnati).
• Lauren Metters, Moses Brown School (Providence, Rhode Island).
• Daniel Newlands, Porter-Gaud School (Charleston, South Carolina).
• Claire Novak, Arizona School for the Arts (Phoenix).
• Lara Ojha, Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, Maryland).
• Millie Pandya, Academies of Loudoun (Leesburg).
• Ashleigh Patterson, Seneca Valley Senior High School (Harmony, Pennsylvania).
• Owen Selden, Porter-Gaud School (Charleston, South Carolina).
• Ansley Skipper, St. Mary’s Episcopal School (Memphis).
• Hannah Slayton, St. Anne’s-Belfield School (Charlottesville).
• Imaan Sultan, Dhahran High School (Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia).
• Holly Teti, Princeton Day School (Princeton, New Jersey).
• Ben Ueltschey, Tupelo High School (Tupelo, Mississippi).
• Arnav Wadehra, James Madison High School (Vienna, Virginia).
• Olivia Yang, Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego).
• Lexy Yeager, The Meadows School (Las Vegas).