The Morehead-Cain Class of 2029 joins a leadership journey that extends from their sophomore year through graduation and beyond. (Submitted photos/Ira Wilder ’24)
The Morehead-Cain Foundation has announced that 18 students enrolled at UNC-Chapel Hill will join the Morehead-Cain Class of 2029 through its sophomore selection process.
Morehead-Cain launched sophomore selection in fall 2023 to identify sophomores at Carolina who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship, leadership and character and invite them to join the Morehead-Cain program.
Selecting the class involves an extensive application review and participation in a final selection experience assessed by members of the Morehead-Cain central selection committee.
Sophomores are nominated by Morehead-Cain’s network of campus partners, including professors, department heads and teaching assistants, as well as staff of service, extracurricular, cultural and scholarship programs. Transfer students are eligible through partnerships with the North Carolina Community College System and the UNC Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
The scholars join a leadership journey that extends from their sophomore year through graduation and beyond. Scholars gain access to a network of peers and mentors, summer enrichment programming, advising, the Lovelace Fund for Discovery, funded study abroad and a living stipend.
Sophomore selection provides an ideal entry point into the Morehead-Cain program for students who have demonstrated significant leadership potential during their first year at Carolina, said Chris Bradford, Morehead-Cain president.
“Some of the most remarkable leaders on this campus reveal themselves only after they arrive,” Bradford said. “Sophomore selection allows us to find them and invite them into a community that will challenge them to aim higher. I can’t wait to see what these students do next.”
The scholars in this year's sophomore cohort come from seven North Carolina counties, five other states, Washington, D.C., India and Peru. They are nonprofit founders, entrepreneurs, advocates and athletes. The Morehead-Cain Class of 2029 includes a world-record mountaineer, two members of the Undergraduate Senate and researchers whose interests span protein stability, jury selection and rhetorical biases in AI algorithms. Read a biography of each scholar.