(Posted April 17, 2024)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Brooks Richardson, a sophomore from Gulfport, Miss., who studies politics at Juniata College, has been awarded a scholarship from the St. Andrews Society of Philadelphia. The award will enable him to attend the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland, for the 2024-2025 academic year.   

“International travel and study are important to me because they allow me to get out of my comfort zone and see something I wouldn’t usually see,” said Richardson. “I was interested in the scholarship because it gives me the opportunity to spend a year in Scotland at an incredible university.”  

Richardson learned about the scholarship from his classmates, Isabel Kruse ’24 and Jacob Wallman ’25, who received the award in 2022 and 2023, respectively.   

Richardson first studied abroad last year on a short-term program to Mexico through Juniata College.   

“We studied migration into the southern border of Mexico,” Richardson said. “Though I didn’t know any Spanish, helping at migrant shelters, playing soccer against a local team, and trying the foods was such an incredible experience. It’s one I’ll never forget.”  

Only four students from 30 participating colleges and universities in Pennsylvania are selected for the prestigious scholarship program, which sends each scholarship recipient to one of the four participating universities in Scotland—each known as “Scotland’s Ivies”—for one year. Richardson is the 27th Juniata College student to receive this prestigious award since Juniata’s affiliation with the program in 1979.  

To be considered for the scholarship, candidates complete an application, write an essay, and participate in an interview. Richardson received encouragement, recommendations, and mentoring from faculty and staff at Juniata, who worked alongside him every step of the way. Richardson credited his family, his friend Nate Weick ’25, and faculty members Alison Fletcher, W. Newton & Hazel A. Long Professor of History, and Jack Barlow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Politics, for their encouragement and support.    

While in Scotland, Richardson plans to study international relations, visit Parliament, attend Scottish Premier League games, and enjoy kiteboarding and golf. After graduating from Juniata, he plans to attend law school and join the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG). 

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.