Adventurous Rhodes in Education
Phaidra Buchanan breaks new ground as UGA’s first African American Rhodes Scholar
Yvonne Lewis, Buchanan’s grandmother, served as a principal in New York.
Yvonne Lewis, Buchanan’s grandmother, served as a principal in New York.
The drive to succeed runs in the Buchanan family.
Growing up, Phaidra Buchanan (B.S.Ed. ’21) remembers watching her grandmother, a longtime educator, open the door of her home to students who needed help with their homework and assignments. Sometimes she would even take care of them on the weekends and tutor them in a range of subjects.
“My grandmother played a huge part in my inspiration to pursue education,” says Phaidra, who recently graduated from the Mary Frances Early College of Education with a bachelor’s degree in social studies education and a minor in German. “Watching her take care of her students was a big part of my life. Even now when I’m teaching and things are hard, I can always call her and she’ll give me advice.”
Phaidra’s grandmother moved to the United States from Guyana with $30 in her pocket and worked as a teacher for several decades, while Phaidra’s mother used the funds she earned as a cashier to attend Harvard Law School and pursue her dream of becoming an attorney.
Inspired by their unwavering determination, Phaidra focused on blazing her own trail at the University of Georgia where she is now the institution’s first African American Rhodes Scholar. After spending months preparing for the Rhodes, Phaidra is still quick to note that the journey and process of applying, prepping, and interviewing for the highly celebrated international scholarship was a team effort.
“It was a terrifying process,” she says. “First of all, being approached to apply for the Rhodes, you sort of have to get over your sense of disbelief. During the beginning stages, I was constantly thinking, why am I filling out this application? But I received a lot of encouragement and help along the way.”
The Buchanan triplets (from left to right: Phaidra, Paul, and Portia) in a baby stroller.
The Buchanan triplets (from left to right: Phaidra, Paul, and Portia) in a baby stroller.
Sources of motivation
Sibling rivalry can manifest in a variety of ways, but growing up as the youngest member of a set of triplets meant that even the smallest things—like the minutes between when Phaidra and her siblings were born—mattered when settling quarrels and other small squabbles as children.
“It was super fun growing up as a triplet, and my siblings are incredible people,” she says of her sister Portia (A.B. ’21) and brother Paul. “My sister is a huge support system, especially when I was going through the process of applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. She would remind me to eat and sleep. I would not be where I am without her.” Phaidra’s brother is a Mellon Mays Fellow at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, while Portia graduated from UGA this past spring as a sociology major.
Four years ago, Phaidra’s list of potential schools to attend included Harvard, Yale, and Brown. However, when she was offered UGA’s Foundation Fellowship in the Jere W. Morehead Honors College—the University’s premier four-year undergraduate scholarship program—Phaidra jumped at the opportunity not only to study abroad at the University of Oxford, but to take part in a variety of benefits that come with the fellowship, including peer mentoring, dinner seminars, cultural events, and more.
Ultimately, Phaidra’s decision to attend UGA came down to the breadth of teacher prep programs offered by the College of Education—something the other schools lacked. She initially planned to pursue mathematics education, but when her passion took a turn, she had the flexibility to change course.
“I realized, as much as I liked math, I wasn’t as passionate about it as I am about social studies and social issues,” she says. “Just the idea of being able to help students understand the world and their place in it and have them participate in making the world a better place using their own talents got me energized.”
Dedication to education
Although the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way Phaidra initially experienced student teaching, she was able to step into a classroom as a student teacher for the first time earlier this year.
Every weekday during her last semester at UGA, Phaidra woke up early in the morning to make her 45-minute commute to Walnut Grove High School in Walton County where she taught U.S. history to 10th- and 12th-grade students. She also taught a credit-recovery course, helping students with a range of subjects, including mathematics, British literature, physical science, government, and more.
As an educator, Phaidra helps students grapple with uncertainty, prompting them to ask larger questions to understand broader themes and connections in social studies. “I help my students gather evidence and express themselves—whether that’s verbally or on paper—and to revisit old assumptions that they have, and with the information they have now, seeing if their opinions have changed. The College has been very intentional about preparing me to help them build those skills.”
Phaidra’s dedication to teaching and her academic excellence and community outreach set her up for success as a future Rhodes Scholar. In fact, she can now add First Honor Graduate to her list of accomplishments. In addition to graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA, Phaidra received the Zell Miller Scholarship four times during her time at UGA and the Melanie A. Burden Community Arts Award for her leadership and mentorship of young girls.
“Phaidra exhibits exceptional intellectual curiosity and determination, characteristics that will serve her well as a teacher and a Rhodes Scholar,” says Denise A. Spangler, dean of the Mary Frances Early College of Education. “She is determined to make a difference for the students in her classroom and to change policies to be more equitable. I am incredibly proud of her and excited to see what she will do in the world.”
In 2018, she studied computing ethics at the University of Oxford in England as a Foundation Fellow and later studied German and sustainability practices at Goethe-Institut in Freiburg, Germany in 2019. In 2019, she participated in the College’s intensive Ghana Study Abroad in Education program, examining school models in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast, Africa.
A peek after Rhodes
In November 2020, Phaidra could be found pacing back and forth in UGA’s Moore Hall waiting for her turn to be interviewed by the Rhodes committee.
After a series of Zoom calls with past UGA Rhodes Scholars, as well as Jessica Hunt, UGA’s scholarships coordinator, and David Williams, associate provost and dean of the Morehead Honors College, Phaidra felt prepared, yet nervous, to compete for the world’s oldest and most celebrated scholarship award.
Luckily, the sense of camaraderie she felt among the 14 other finalists from the southeastern district helped calm her nerves. She played Pictionary and created a Spotify playlist via Zoom with the students during the interview process. While the answers she provided remain a blur, Phaidra still remembers some of the questions asked by the committee, which ranged from German and Guyanese politics to philosophical questions about education.
Most Rhodes Scholars—who, in the past, have included Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, presidents, and more—study abroad with recipients from around the world. Phaidra, who will start her scholarship at Oxford next fall, plans to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. She believes that studying all three of those subjects will broaden her content knowledge and make her a better social studies teacher in the future.
“I have a lot of ideas about where I could go,” says Phaidra about her plans after Rhodes. “Initially, when I came to UGA, my plan was to teach for about five to 10 years and then study education policy in graduate school and work. Since being at UGA, I’ve learned a lot more about issues of equity and access, and that informs more of what I do now. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I have a lot of ideas, and I know that teaching is going to be on the front end, and that’s what I plan to do after I return from Oxford.”
In the community
During her four years at UGA, Phaidra actively engaged with the Athens and campus community as a volunteer, tutor, student assistant, and more. Below are just a few examples of her outreach work.
Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement
Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement is a nonprofit organization that advocates for social justice and strives to combat discrimination through education and activism. As a tutor for the organization, Phaidra provided support for students adjusting to virtual learning and struggling with schoolwork during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Morehouse College Annual Math Competitions Bootcamp
As a high school student, Phaidra received first place in Morehouse College’s K-12 mathematics competition four times, and the award was eventually named in her honor. After graduating high school, Phaidra remained involved with the competition as an assistant and panel moderator.
As a volunteer for U-Lead Athens, a nonprofit organization that works to secure equal access to higher education for students of immigrant families, Phaidra tutored elementary and middle school students in mathematics, English, science, and social studies. She also served as a college mentor for high school students.
Leaders Engaged in Affirming Diversity (LEAD) Fellows Program
After analyzing the context of institutional diversity and engaging with campus and community leaders, Phaidra helped develop a diversity leadership action plan, which she presented to Michelle Cook, UGA’s vice provost for diversity and inclusion and strategic university initiatives.
Phaidra worked with Envision Athens and its partner organization, Minority Owned Businesses (MOB) Athens, to expand the minority-owned business directory, connect business owners to community resources, and plan and facilitate an end-of-year event.
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