The University of Chicago announced that fourth-year student Samantha Taylor has been accepted to Stanford Law School. The news was received joyously by the aspiring lawyer, who has built her life around fighting for the causes she’s most passionate about.
Clear in her pursuit of a legal career, Taylor said, “If I’m presented with an opportunity but find that it challenges my principles or the type of impact that I’ve committed myself to making, I immediately know that it’s not worth it.”
Taylor has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, a prestigious program that provides each recipient with up to three years of support for graduate study at Stanford University. The program recognizes students working to address complex challenges facing the global population. For Taylor, an Odyssey Scholar, the chance to continue her education without the financial burden that often defines the journey is invaluable.
Pursuing a double major in public policy and philosophy, Taylor now has the opportunity to deepen her education in social justice and public policy. She plans to begin law school in the fall of 2025 with a focus on civil rights and criminal law.
The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate scholarship that provides financial support and leadership development opportunities to students committed to positive global impact. Scholars engage in experiences that prepare them to become visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders.
Taylor’s academic interests are deeply personal, shaped by her upbringing in Chicagoland and her first-hand encounters with racial inequity and mass incarceration—experiences that affected both her community and her own life.
“I remember being present at a mass shooting during an eighth-grade graduation party,” she said. “This and other experiences have and continue to shape my life, and influence how I enter into different spaces and situations.”
The summer of 2020 and the civil rights movements following the deaths of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin gave Taylor a social compass and cemented her drive to make a difference.
“My goal is to address mass incarceration and how it disproportionately affects Black people,” she said. “That time period has always been at the forefront of how I’ve viewed society. Because I’ve been given so much access to education without burden, I feel like it’s my responsibility to go forward in life using this opportunity to lift people up who don’t have the tools to solve the issues my family, friends, and neighbors have lived with.”
Reflecting on her time at UChicago, Taylor described a wealth of experiences—from research to internships—with organizations such as the University’s Institute of Politics, the Policing Project in New York City, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. These opportunities helped guide the next steps in her professional path.
“My goal is to address mass incarceration and how it disproportionately affects Black people,” she emphasized. “The best opportunity for me to do that would be in a public defense capacity where I’m able to directly help, but I’m also interested in focusing on systemic intervention through appellate law.”
Long-term, she sees herself transitioning into politics to become “an even bigger advocate for legislation that helps build towards a world that I feel is more representative of equity and justice.”
When she considers the importance of her philosophy degree, Taylor credits it with giving her the “critical mindset” needed to pursue new social solutions—skills emphasized by the Knight-Hennessy program. More broadly, she said the University of Chicago gave her the confidence to strive for her goals.
“It’s a place that allows you to ask the big questions in pursuit of knowledge and truth,” she said. “UChicago allows one to travel avenues that challenge the status quo, or the normative standard of what people accept the world to be.”
Finally, Taylor received interview support from the College’s Office of National Fellowships, which assists students and alumni applying for nationally competitive awards such as the Knight-Hennessy. The National Fellowships team helps students identify and articulate how their unique talents and distinctive journeys prepare them to make a better world.