The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program on Thursday accepted 21 current first year students from Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill into its Class of 2024 Scholars, after canceling its program for the Class of 2024 last year.
High school seniors and first-year students enrolled at Duke and UNC are eligible to apply for the Robertson program, a full-tuition scholarship which encourages leadership and study at both Duke and UNC. There are nine Duke students, 12 new UNC first-years and two current UNC Robertson scholars in the 2024 cohort.
“We are delighted to announce the selection of the largest class of First-Year Scholars in the Program’s history. This is the first year the selection process was handled entirely virtually,” said Kay-Frances Brody, director of recruitment and selection for the Robertson program, in a news release.
In March 2020, the Robertson program for the then-matriculating Class of 2024 was canceled because of the spread of the coronavirus.
This year’s first year class is larger because of the decision to not take a new class in 2020, wrote Audrey Walker, assistant director of alumni and communications for the program, in an email.
The Robertson program made significant changes to the recruitment process, Walker wrote.
“Director of Recruitment and Selection Kay-Frances Brody revamped the entire process offering virtual webinars for potential Scholars, and three rounds of interviews were conducted in the virtual format using a combination of Zoom Meetings, Asynchronous multiple mini interview prompts as well as a panel interview in a custom developed interviewing software platform,” she wrote.
The selection process was also conducted earlier in the year, Walker wrote, with offers typically extended in April.
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Preetha Ramachandran is a Trinity senior and diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator for The Chronicle's 118th volume. She was previously senior editor for Volume 117.