Jessica Christine Fowler, a St. Louis native and holder of the St. Louis Jefferson Scholarship, graduated in 2006 with a degree in Political and Social Thought. Among her many activities during her time at the University, she was a senior peer advisor in the Office of African-American Affairs Peer Advisor Program, the subject of this article in The New York Times. The University of Virginia perennially leads public colleges and universities in its graduation rate for black students (86%, according to the 2006 survey by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education).

Jessica is spending 2006-07 as an intern with UrbanPromise Ministries in Camden, New Jersey. She has deferred matriculation at Duke University Medical School until 2007-08.