Bucknell Student Receives Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship

Bucknell students continue to distinguish themselves on the national stage, earning prestigious scholarships and recognition for their academic excellence. This spring, Marie Victoire Alexis '26 was awarded the highly competitive Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship. 

The Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship provides up to $150,000 over four years to support outstanding Cooke Scholars and recent alumni pursuing graduate degrees at top institutions. The award covers tuition, living expenses and fees, helping ease financial barriers and reduce student debt for high-achieving individuals.

For Alexis, the Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship represents both opportunity and affirmation as she prepares to pursue graduate study in counseling. Alexis, a psychology major, is a first-generation college student and participant of the Bucknell Community College Scholars Program. She transferred to Bucknell her junior year from Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Her interest in psychology took shape through experiences in both Haiti and the United States. As a teenager, she met a psychologist who helped her better understand the impact of mental health care. It was an experience that she says influenced her to enter the field.

At Bucknell, Alexis has built extensive experience in community-based support work. She completed an eight-week internship with Transitions of PA, an organization in Lewisburg that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and chose to continue volunteering there throughout the academic year. 

That experience, she says, solidified her career goals. "Working at Transitions made me feel certain that I want to do that type of work for the rest of my life," she says.

As a recipient of both undergraduate and, now, graduate support from the Cooke Foundation, Alexis sees it as a sustained investment in her potential. "They have not only helped me financially, but they have guided and mentored me throughout my college career," she says.

Reflecting on her experience, Alexis credits numerous Bucknell mentors who guided her along the way, particularly within Bucknell's Center for Access & Success, which provides a cohesive system of support for students enrolled in Bucknell's five national and signature pathway scholarship programs. This support includes personal, relationship-based mentoring designed to champion and advise students as they chart their unique educational paths. 

Marie Victoire Alexis '26 (left) says the support she received from the Center of Access & Success, including Caro Mercado, director of Access & Success Student Experience (right) was valuable to her success. Photo by David Newsome/A Touch of Glass Photography

Alexis expresses gratitude to the center's Associate Director, Jenn Brown, who spent hours helping her revise her application, and to Director Chris Brown, who guided her through the process and helped her highlight her achievements. She also credits Eleonora Mena Holmes, the center's administrative assistant, for "helping keep me grounded."

Among those mentors, Alexis says Caro Mercado, director of Access & Success Student Experience, played an especially meaningful role in her Bucknell journey. "She was like a mother to me," Alexis says. "She not only wrote a recommendation letter for the scholarship, but also provided mentorship in every area of my life."

Mercado says supporting students like Alexis is one of the most rewarding parts of her work.

"I feel privileged to work and mentor scholars like Marie who do not take their education for granted and strive to contribute to their campus community," Mercado says. "The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recognizes this as well. Marie is a gem, and I am so proud of her."

Alexis also expressed gratitude to Margaret Cronin, a writing & teaching consultant with Bucknell's Writing Center, who supported her throughout the writing process.

"As English is not my first language, her guidance meant a great deal to me," Alexis says. "Words are not enough to express my gratitude toward all of them."