The Kennedy Center for International Studies aims to help students expand their worlds through academic programs and international experiences—and the funding to make it happen. To that end, last year saw the creation of a new scholarship at the Kennedy Center, the Sandra Rogers Endowed Scholarship for Kennedy Scholars. It honors Sandra Rogers, who served as International Vice President of BYU from 2001 to 2021.
The scholarship functions as an extension of our Kennedy Scholars initiative. Aimed at Kennedy Center majors who embody the aims of the Kennedy Center and have an international focus, the Sandra Rogers Scholarship provides the recipient with a generous stipend to cover tuition and books.
Our 2025 Recipient
This year’s recipient is Jonah Nelson, a junior from Portland, Oregon studying International Relations and Economics. In addition to his double major, Nelson, who served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in French Polynesia, has also earned a French certificate.
His future objective is to work for the U.S. State Department and, ideally, join the Foreign Service. “I’d love to work in an embassy in the Management cone,” he says. “But I understand that it’ll take a bit of time to get into that. So in the meantime, I’d like to work in research, potentially at a think tank.” To that end, he’ll be doing an internship with the Religious Freedom Institute this summer. He’s also considering doing an MBA while he works to get into the Foreign Service.
“I feel like the Foreign Service is a career where you can really make a difference,” he says. “You’re directly helping Americans who are in trouble abroad. And then the diplomacy aspect is a huge part of that as well—being able to help connect the US to other countries.”
His experiences at BYU have strengthened his interest in and involvement with diplomacy: he has served as co-president of the Foreign Service Student Organization and was involved in the 2024–2025 Model United Nations program. His MUN team, representing Türkiye, was named an Outstanding delegation at the national competition in New York City in April. Nelson describes the experience as both impactful and fun: “It was really great to have a cohort of like-minded people competing together in New York.”
Even more important, it taught him important lessons about diplomacy. “I think the biggest thing that I learned was that in a negotiation, or in diplomacy, the best outcome is an outcome where everyone wins—where you don't have to lose or give way so that other people can win. Sometimes that does have to happen, but very often there's a solution where everyone gets what they want, if you just spend enough time negotiating and learning what the other side’s interests are.”
Receiving the Scholarship
Nelson’s path toward receiving the Sandra Rogers Scholarship started when he heard about the Kennedy Scholars initiative from Scott Cooper, faculty coordinator of the International Relations program. “I’m so involved in the Kennedy Center, and it has had such a huge impact on my trajectory and my education, that I thought I might be a good candidate to be a Kennedy Scholar,” he explains.
The Kennedy Scholars committee agreed, selecting him from among all the applicants to receive the Sandra Rogers Scholarship. “It was a very welcome surprise,” Nelson says. “It’ll put me at ease financially next year. I’m married, and it’s expensive to be married and be a student. So receiving this scholarship will allow me to really focus on academia and my studies during my senior year.”
Are you a Kennedy Center major interested in the Sandra Rogers Scholarship? Reach out to the faculty coordinator of your program to let them know you’re interested in being considered for next year’s scholarship.