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Madison Jennings '24
Madison Jennings ’24 doesn’t do anything halfway. A classically trained ballet dancer, Jennings attended high school at the renowned Savannah Arts Academy, where she danced for hours every day while taking Advanced Placement courses. At Agnes Scott, she was an Elizabeth Kiss Trailblazer Scholar, a Hubert Scholar and president of the pre-law society. And last fall, she embarked on the next chapter of her academic journey as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England.
“My gratitude is immeasurable,” says Jennings, who was one of only 32 students in the country to be awarded the prestigious scholarship. “I am reminded of what Maya Angelou once said: ‘Everyone who has ever cared for and prayed for you goes with you.’ I am beyond grateful for my family, my friends, my professors and that Lowcountry upbringing.”
Jennings is just the second Scottie to earn the Rhodes Scholarship since women became eligible for the award in 1976. She credits her Agnes Scott experience with strengthening her application and preparing her for future success.
“Having that very small community allowed me to develop close relationships with my professors and peers. In addition, the college’s proximity to Atlanta offered access to many different internships so I could actually apply what I was learning.”
Madison Jennings
Jennings took full advantage of the opportunities available to her, completing several internships as an undergraduate. She was a Rule of Law intern at The Carter Center, where she worked on issues ranging from supporting women’s education and activism in Liberia to identifying support for policing alternatives in Georgia. She served as a Duke PreLaw Fellow, where she developed a passion for international law and policy. She also founded the Pop Up Library for Peace, an outdoor library initiative in Savannah that highlights diverse children's literature.
Jennings is working toward her Master of Public Policy and Master of Science in Public Policy Research degrees at Oxford. She notes that she’s learning from not only her professors, but also her peers.
“I have met so many people. There are about 160 students in my program representing 63 countries,” she says. “There are people who have been in their careers for 10 years now and people who are politicians or who have run for public office. Everyone has different backgrounds and interests. I’m with an incredible cohort.”
Jennings is also carving out time for new experiences and adventures. She recently traveled to Malaga, Spain, and she was a runner-up in the 2025 Univ Library Poetry Competition. She also joined the Oxford Salsa Society.
“I've always wanted to learn salsa, and I found out that there are discounts for students, so I started going to some of the classes,” she says. “I auditioned and joined the team, and that's been fun. It’s a different kind of energy. We don’t talk about school or work. We come to dance.”
Eventually, Jennings hopes to work in the policy arena. She is especially interested in social policy, particularly as it relates to women’s health, gender-based violence, and elder care both at home and abroad. Her work in collaborative partnerships with community organizations has shaped her commitment to addressing systemic inequalities through culturally responsive and community-informed strategies.
Jennings recently appeared in an episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast exploring how race and ethnicity shape the experience of gender-based violence around the world. This summer, she will begin an internship in Cape Town, South Africa, working with the Health Foundation and Metro Health Services to develop standardized indicators for monitoring services supporting survivors of sexual assault.
“As a policy director, I intend to leverage these community-based models to demonstrate how local dynamics inform global policies,” she says. “I have learned that leadership is not solely about identifying challenges and crafting solutions—it is also about inspiring others and fostering teamwork.”
