First-ever UNM Student Selected as U.S. Gates Cambridge Scholar

Thirty-nine of the most aca­d­e­m­i­cally bril­liant and socially com­mit­ted young peo­ple in the US – includ­ing the Uni­ver­sity if New Mexico’s Shaina Saint-Lot, will take up a Gates Cam­bridge Schol­ar­ship to study at the Uni­ver­sity of Cam­bridge, Eng­land, this fall as the pro­gram con­tin­ues to expand.

“We are delighted to announce our new US Schol­ars,” Pro­fes­sor Robert Leth­bridge, provost (CEO) of the Gates Cam­bridge Trust, said. “They are an out­stand­ing group of indi­vid­u­als from a diverse range of back­grounds. They fully meet the cri­te­ria of the Schol­ar­ship in being both intel­lec­tu­ally out­stand­ing and hav­ing a capac­ity for lead­er­ship and a com­mit­ment to improv­ing the lives of oth­ers. They should be proud of this achieve­ment and we can expect much of them.”

“I am hon­ored to have received the Gates Cam­bridge Schol­ar­ship,” Saint-Lot said. “As the first UNM stu­dent to receive this honor, I know that I am indebted to the uni­ver­sity for pro­vid­ing the great pro­fes­sors, men­tors and expe­ri­ences that helped to rein­force my ded­i­ca­tion to com­mu­nity devel­op­ment. My men­tors and pro­fes­sors made me aware of almost every oppor­tu­nity that has become a part of my life expe­ri­ences. They pushed me to chal­lenge myself and offered sup­port even when I didn’t know I needed it, for which I am for­ever grateful.

“I rec­og­nize that being a Gates Scholar is not only a great honor, but it is also a com­mit­ment. It is a com­mit­ment and respon­si­bil­ity to uti­liz­ing the edu­ca­tional oppor­tu­ni­ties I’ve been priv­i­leged to receive in improv­ing the lives of others.”

This year 11 U.S. col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, includ­ing the UNM, are rep­re­sented for the first time. Pub­lic and pri­vate insti­tu­tions rang­ing from lib­eral arts col­leges to research uni­ver­si­ties are all rep­re­sented. This brings the num­ber of US insti­tu­tions who have had Gates Cam­bridge Schol­ars to 183 since the pro­gram began in 2001.

“Being born and raised in Haiti, and mov­ing to one of the rich­est coun­tries in the world, made me clearly aware of the dif­fer­ences in qual­ity of life among peo­ple world­wide,” Saint-Lot said in her bio as part of her selec­tion. “It never felt right to me that some peo­ple suf­fered and strug­gled so much while oth­ers lounged in lux­ury, and just because of the place they were born! I knew as a lit­tle girl that I wanted to improve the qual­ity of life in places just like my homeland.

“As I spent more time in the U.S. though, I came to under­stand that inequal­ity was a com­plex issue that directly affected well­be­ing and qual­ity of life, an unre­stric­tive issue affect­ing poor and rich coun­tries alike. I look for­ward to research­ing the effects of inequal­ity on well­be­ing and devel­op­ment while explor­ing the grass­roots orga­ni­za­tions and state insti­tu­tions that can spur this equi­table growth.”

The postgraduate-study pro­gram was estab­lished through a $210 mil­lion dona­tion to the Uni­ver­sity of Cam­bridge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun­da­tion in 2001, which remains the largest sin­gle dona­tion to a UK uni­ver­sity. Com­pe­ti­tion for places is fierce and the pro­gram is unique in its empha­sis on social lead­er­ship as well as out­stand­ing aca­d­e­mic ability.

The suc­cess­ful 39 can­di­dates, who will study for a vari­ety of one-year courses and Ph.D. degrees, were whit­tled down from an ini­tial field of 750 appli­cants. The 83 short­listed can­di­dates were inter­viewed in Wash­ing­ton D.C. in early Feb­ru­ary by Cam­bridge and US academics.

“I would like to under­stand how weak insti­tu­tions could be a hin­drance to devel­op­ment and dis­cover pos­si­ble sub­sti­tu­tions for spe­cific insti­tu­tions,” Saint-Lot said. “I am excited to con­tinue to build on my aca­d­e­mic and research expe­ri­ence in the stim­u­lat­ing envi­ron­ment at Cam­bridge. My future plans are to work in com­mu­nity devel­op­ment in under-served coun­tries by estab­lish­ing sus­tain­able and strong foun­da­tions for local eco­nomic growth. I would enjoy a job that allows me to empower the local pop­u­la­tion while best uti­liz­ing their resources and knowl­edge with­out com­pro­mis­ing their social and cul­tural values.”

The new U.S. Schol­ars will join 50 Schol­ars from other coun­tries around the world, who will be announced this spring. At any one time there are almost 250 Gates Cam­bridge Schol­ars at the Uni­ver­sity Cam­bridge – one of the world’s most ancient and pres­ti­gious universities.

Media Con­tact: Steve Carr (505) 277‑1821; email: scarr@unm.edu