Baylor Senior Awarded Prestigious British Marshall Scholarship

University Scholar Lauren Jarvis will seek master’s degrees at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Exeter

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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WACO, Texas (Dec. 12, 2022) – Baylor University senior Lauren Jarvis, a University Scholar from Boerne, Texas, with concentrations in political science, economics and international studies, has been selected as one of only 40 high-achieving students nationwide – and one of only two students from Texas universities – to receive the prestigious 2023 Marshall Scholarship. The award announcement was made today by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, which includes eight regional committees who select the recipients.

Jarvis is Baylor’s sixth Marshall Scholar and third since 2015. She will begin graduate studies in the United Kingdom next year, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the scholarship.

“I was in a class when I received a phone call from the committee. I stepped into the Draper [Academic Building] hallway to hear the news, ‘We regret to inform you…that you won the Marshall!’ I wasn’t sure I understood correctly until I heard the entire committee applauding in the background,” Jarvis said. “I laughed and told them had successfully caught me off guard with their announcement.”

His Majesty’s British Consul General to Houston Richard Hyde said, "Congratulations to our region’s Marshall Scholarship winners. They will be wonderful ambassadors and future leaders. These students are the best and brightest and display an impressive depth of knowledge across a range of topics. Undoubtedly, they will further UK-U.S. collaboration and innovation and deepen the special UK-U.S. relationship.”

Evaluated on academic merit, leadership potential and ambassadorial potential, Marshall Scholarship recipients can pursue graduate study for up to three years at a UK university of their choice. Jarvis will take a Master of Science (MSc) at the London School of Economics and Political Science and an M.A. in political thought at the University of Exeter, positioning herself for a life of public service leadership on issues of human flourishing, humanitarian aid and the plight of refugees.

“I learned about Marshall my sophomore year, and it seemed like a perfect post-grad fit—it is an exciting opportunity to study foreign affairs at a program tailored to my interests in a country that is a close humanitarian partner of the U.S.,” she said. “I believe that prudent foreign policy requires looking beyond the U.S. and considering many voices. Studying at LSE will allow me to explore humanitarianism in a country that shares the U.S.’s democratic values and to develop lasting relationships with UK humanitarian counterparts.”

The Marshall Scholarship Program was established in 1953 to honor U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall and express Britain’s gratitude for the assistance the UK received after World War II under the Marshall Plan. Marshall Scholars, like Jarvis, strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions.

“Lauren Jarvis’s demonstrated leadership and ambassadorial potential are evident, and she is committed to the U.S.-UK special relationship,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “We are confident she will thrive and contribute to the rich intellectual environments at LSE and Exeter, where she will build relationships, develop new ways of thinking and foster collaborations that will deepen our countries’ shared commitments to strategies addressing and preempting humanitarian emergencies.”

In addition to her academic pursuits in Baylor’s rigorous University Scholars program in the Honors College, Jarvis is a highly decorated member of Baylor’s Model UN team. She was one of 20 students to win the 2021 Hamilton National Fellowship from the Alexander Hamilton Society. An accomplished debater, Jarvis has independently coached six debate teams with striking results at regional and national tournaments. In 2020, as the pandemic shifted how people engage with one another, Jarvis launched SpeechMakers, a debate resource preparation platform for high school debaters.

In addition to these academic and leadership achievements, Jarvis sharpened her ambassadorial potential through highly competitive internships at the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations Information Center, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Through these experiences, she has engaged with professionals and high-level diplomats and been proactive in connecting with US. Foreign Service Officers and UN officers.

“A Marshall Scholarship is an extraordinary honor, and the Marshall Commission has done right by selecting an extraordinary person in Lauren Jarvis,” said Baylor’s Marshall representative Andrew P. Hogue, Ph.D., associate dean for engaged learning in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Motivated by a strong conviction to bring justice, healing and opportunity to the world’s most vulnerable, Lauren is a deep thinker whose voice is never the loudest voice in the room, but is often, somehow, the most commanding. I can think of no one more suited to the steady work of diplomacy that is expected of a Marshall Scholar, and I am confident she will thrive.”

Hogue and Daniel Benyousky, Ph.D., director of major fellowships and awards, played a pivotal role in Jarvis’s success through their work in Baylor’s Office of Engaged Learning. OEL partners with students, in collaboration with faculty and staff throughout the University, to help them maximize their scholarship beyond the classroom, including applying and competing for prestigious scholarships, fellowships, internships and research experiences at the national and international level. In 2021-2022, Baylor students won a record 14 Fulbrights, a Truman and two Borens. Jarvis said the Marshall application, though a long and challenging process, was a valuable experience because of Hogue and Benyousky'

“I learned more about myself and grew under their reliable and thoughtful guidance,” she said,

“Lauren is one of the most remarkable students I have worked with,” Benyousky said. “She has been shaped by transformational experiences at Baylor through her mentors and coursework and opportunities beyond the classroom. She seeks to find a balance between pressing humanitarian needs and political thought, as she seeks to both do good and think well.”

Coming from a family of Baylor alumni, Jarvis said she looked for ways to create her own experience at Baylor. As part of the University Scholars program, she surrounded herself with faculty and peers who pushed her to grow both academically and personally, such as political science professors Rebecca Flavin, Ph.D., and Richard Jordan, Ph.D.

“I have known Dr. Jordan and Dr. Flavin since my sophomore year after joining Model UN with Dr. Flavin and taking a class with Dr. Jordan,” Jarvis said. “Both encourage me in my successes and challenge me to continue improving my skills. I am grateful to have been surrounded by faculty who attentively take time to understand me and my interests and invest in my goals.”

Flavin and Jordan both described Jarvis as a “rare student” and one “you hope you are blessed to encounter even just once in your career.”

“Lauren is the kind of student who does not fit the mold in all of the best ways,” Flavin said. “She is not afraid to be wrong (though she seldom is), and she offers a refreshing type of intelligent, humble and kind leadership that we so sorely need. She brings out the best in others with whom she is working and is a student who you know is going to leave a mark wherever she goes.”

“Lauren is blessed with both exceptional intelligence and remarkable humility,” Jordan said. “She has ears ready to listen, a strong moral compass and a remarkable openness to other points of view. I am certain she will do us proud.”

With over 2,200 scholarships awarded to date, Marshall Scholars include numerous university presidents, six Pulitzer Prize winners, one Nobel Laureate, 14 MacArthur Fellows, two Academy Award nominees, two U.S. Supreme Court Justices and a NASA Astronaut.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT THE HONORS COLLEGE AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The Honors College at Baylor University unites four innovative interdisciplinary programs – the Honors Program, University Scholars, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and Great Texts – with a shared commitment to providing undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue questions that often fall between the cracks of the specialized disciplines by investigating the writings of scientists along with the writings of poets, historians and philosophers. For more information, visit baylor.edu/honorscollege.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 10 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit baylor.edu/artsandsciences.