Samantha Hauff ’25

Samantha Hauff ’25 has been awarded a highly competitive Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in Bulgaria—becoming the first PC student in over a decade to earn this distinguished honor.

She credits her PC professors—Dr. Julie Meadows, Dr. Philip Perdue, Dr. Jacklyn Sumner, and Dr. Stephan Wiecki—whose mentorship guided her through both her Fulbright application and her immersive studies in Slavic history and culture. Their encouragement fueled her passion for international education and opened doors to global opportunities.

Hauff’s path to the Fulbright began with childhood stories of her Ukrainian heritage passed down through generations and deepened through her undergraduate research on “Chervona Kalyna,” a folk song tied to resistance and cultural identity that regained prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As a member of PC’s inaugural NCAA Division I Women’s Wrestling Team, Hauff also competed in the sport of Beach Wrestling—winning the U20 Women’s 70kg division at the 2023 U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships and earning a spot on Team USA. Although she was ultimately unable to compete in the World Championships due to injury, she credits much of her beach wrestling knowledge to a Bulgarian coach she trained with at a club in Georgia. Their conversations sparked her interest in Slavic countries beyond Ukraine and deepened her curiosity about the cultural significance of sports and coaching around the world.

Hauff has notably been recognized for her sports journalism, earning first place at the South Carolina Press Association Awards for Best College Sports Story for her article, Trails Ablaze, Glass Ceilings Shatter: PC Takes Down The First NCAA DI Women’s Wrestling Quad Dual.

Following her Fulbright year, Hauff plans to pursue graduate studies in rhetoric or international relations, with aspirations to teach at the university level or work in foreign diplomacy.

She is committed to challenging Russocentric narratives in Slavic Studies by amplifying underrepresented voices from countries like Ukraine and Bulgaria, and views herself as a cultural ambassador dedicated to fostering cross-cultural understanding through education and dialogue.

Patrick Buchanan ’25

Patrick Buchanan ’25, a Fulbright semi-finalist, is pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Illinois following his graduation from PC. As a history major and Griffith Scholar, Buchanan distinguished himself through extensive research on Latin American history, particularly focusing on racial democracy in Brazil.

During his time at PC, Buchanan worked closely with Dr. Jaclyn Sumner through the PC Summer Fellows program, which sparked his passion for Brazilian history. His interdisciplinary approach led to his first academic publication in “Process: a Journal of Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Scholarship,” where he explored postcolonial narratives under the mentorship of Dr. Emily Taylor.

Buchanan’s undergraduate achievements include presentations at the Presbyterian College Honors Day Symposium and the S.C. Upstate Research Symposium. Through The Leadership Alliance, he completed a prestigious fellowship at the University of Chicago with Dr. Dain Borges, researching slavery and social relations in late imperial Brazil.

As a first-generation student through the Presby First+ program, Buchanan’s journey from PC to the University of Illinois exemplifies the transformative power of undergraduate research and mentorship in shaping academic careers.

Ricardo Hernandez ’20

Looking back on his four years as a student at Presbyterian College, Ricardo Hernandez ‘20 says that PC helped him grow to limits that he never could have imagined. 

Hernandez was the first computational biology student at Presbyterian College to pursue—and ultimately achieve—his Ph.D. As an undergrad, he completed SCINBRE research that studied the fractal properties of the genome as a novel way to identify how similar, at the DNA level, different organisms are.

“DNA has fractal properties, which means that there is a constant presence of repeating patterns and self-similarity,” says Hernandez “Therefore, by elucidating these patterns, we could ask the question: how similar are the patterns from these different organisms?”

Hernandez says that his undergraduate research benefited him greatly as his career unfolded. He went on to achieve his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina and is currently a PRISM Baker Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University researching Alzheimer’s disease, co-mentored by Professor Chaitan Khosla and Michael Greicius, M.D. 

“Thanks to [my undergraduate] research, I learned how to code and ‘speak’ multiple coding languages. This research was on a very complex topic in an area outside my expertise, such as physics. This was very useful during my Ph.D. where I was able to find ways to apply my knowledge and skills to a wide range of different topics.”

Kennedy Wright ’23

Kennedy Wright ’23 was named a finalist for the 2022 Truman Scholarship, one of the country’s most prestigious national fellowships. Wright, a political science major while at PC, was one of only 189 finalists nationwide and one of only two in South Carolina to be named a finalist.

Wright served on PC’s Moving Forward Together committee in 2020 to address systemic racism. She said serving on the committee was one of her proudest accomplishments at PC. The Greenville, S.C., native also served as student body president, as secretary-treasurer and president of PC’s Multicultural Student Union, and as an orientation leader.

Dr. Erin McAdams, associate professor of political science, said Wright demonstrates all of the traits – academic success, leadership, and dedication to public service – the Truman Foundation looks for in a scholarship candidate.