Meet Abrianna Morales of Placitas, the first UNM student in more than 20 years to be a Rhodes scholar

With a focus on victims of sexual assault, Abrianna Morales in November became the first University of New Mexico student to be named a Rhodes scholar in more than 20 years.

Morales, of Placitas, a sexual assault survivor since the age of 15, founded the Sexual Assault Youth Support Network, a nonprofit that provides support and resources to young victims. She earned a 2023 Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology summa cum laude from UNM. Since graduating, she’s served as a program manager of the National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA), where she oversees the nationwide Victim Advocacy Corps, a pilot program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime.

The Rhodes scholar program, which accepts about 1% of the more than 3,000 Americans who apply yearly, will fund her graduate studies in Political Thought, focusing on the intersection of identity development and youth service engagement. Morales is currently considered a “Rhodes scholar-elect” until she is placed in a course at one of Oxford’s 43 colleges, according to a spokesperson with the Office of the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust.

Created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896, it pays for 103 students a year — 32 of whom are American — to earn graduate degrees at Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, founded in 1096. Previous U.S. Rhodes scholars include President Bill Clinton, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Hubble telescope builder Edwin Hubble, former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Supreme Court Justice David Souter. The last Rhodes scholar from UNM was John C. Probasco in 2002.

Morales was one of 15 candidates who flew to Denver on Nov. 15-16 for individualized 25-minute interviews. At the end of the trip, she found out that she was one of only two candidates for District 13 of the Rhodes Trust, the program’s sponsor, to be named scholars. Another woman, a United States Military Academy graduate from Lincoln, Nebraska, was the other scholar.

Since, Morales said she has been living “in a dream state.”

“I’m still stunned, frankly,” Morales said. “I feel so lucky that I have the privilege to have this opportunity.”

The Rhodes scholarship is “the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates,” Ramona Doyle, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said in a news release.

UNM President Garnett Stokes praised Morales for her achievement, calling her “one of our highest achieving Lobos of all time” in a message to the campus community. Morales was also a Presidential scholar, a Truman scholar and a participant in the McNair Scholars Program, Stokes said.

“I know the entire Lobo community joins me in celebrating Abrianna and her incredible accomplishment — congratulations again, Abrianna!” Stokes said. “We can’t wait to follow what lies ahead for you!”

Stokes also thanked everyone who helped Morales in her educational journey. Manuel Montoya, UNM associate professor of economics, was one of Morales’ mentors while she was a McNair scholar. Montoya is also the university’s first Latinx Rhodes scholar.

In an interview, Montoya said he was “thrilled” to hear that his former student will soon hold the same prestigious title as him.

“For me, this is big because Abrianna is one of the most authentic people I’ve met in a long time,” Montoya said. “She doesn’t care about the résumé as much as she cares about the quality of work that she’s doing. We sometimes live in a world where that’s not always favored.”

He described Morales as a person of integrity: the kind of person who might turn down big opportunities in favor of getting work done.

Claire Ponder Selib, executive director of NOVA, said she “can’t think of anyone more deserving” of the scholarship than Morales. The UNM alumna joined NOVA in December 2022, while she was still a UNM student carrying a full-time course load.

“Abrianna is wise beyond her years,” Ponder Selib said. “She is poised, confident and respected by her peers across the country (and) she has channeled (sexual assault) trauma into making it her life journey to advocate for others.”

While her victim advocacy work has been meaningful, Morales wants to study how oppressive experiences shape the way they become involved in their communities, including in public service.

Following Oxford, Morales wants to earn a Ph.D. in developmental psychology focusing on narrative identity development, youth service and political engagement. She plans to come back to New Mexico to do this work.

Montoya said that he hopes when Morales arrives at Oxford, she realizes she’s studying in a place that is “dedicated to preserving knowledge into millennia.”

“That’s their legacy, so to be there is to be placed inside of history’s cradle,” Montoya said.

Montoya, a native of the state, said it can be challenging for anyone from New Mexico to step into a place like Oxford and work as opposed to visiting there.

“What you’re actually doing is you’re contributing a little bit of New Mexico’s history to the cobblestone streets and the massively tall gothic knowledge temples that make Oxford what it is,” Montoya said.

Informed of her former professor’s comments, Morales said being a Rhodes scholar from New Mexico is positioning her to be part of a legacy of people “who cared greatly about not only the welfare of people in our state ... but also to preserve and carry forth knowledge that will help generations far beyond you and I.”

Besides hitting the books, Morales enjoys running, creative writing and watching movies, particularly the horror genre, Montoya said. He laughed that Morales never gave him a straight answer on which horror film is her favorite.

For the record, Morales said it’s “Rosemary’s Baby,” the 1968 film starring Mia Farrow, whose son Ronan Farrow was also a Rhodes scholar.

Whether Morales will have time for movies while studying at Oxford remains to be seen. But for now, she looks forward to traveling abroad for the first time and imagines herself sitting under a tree reading a book — just as members of the selection committee told her they did when they attended Oxford.