November 19, 1999
Contact: Barbara Schowen, KU honors program, (785) 864-4225 or Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853,
LAWRENCE -- A childhood interest in the U.S. Civil War has helped propel Jay Jarrett Sexton, a University of Kansas senior from Salina, to the regional competition for a Marshall Scholarship to study in Great Britain.
Marshall finalists will be interviewed Thursday, Nov. 18, and Friday, Nov.19, in Chicago for the Midwestern region. Up to 40 winners nationwide will be announced in early December from Washington, D.C. Winners will use the scholarships in the 2000-2002 academic years.
Marshall scholarships can be used at any British university. Sexton has a special interest in graduate study of Anglo-American relations at Oxford University. When he graduates in May 2000 with degrees in history and in English, Sexton wants to continue graduate study of a London network of American and British supporters of the North that pressured British politicians to remain neutral throughout the war.
At age 12, Sexton used his summer earnings to buy a replica Civil War uniform and join the 8th Kansas Volunteer Regiment as a drummer boy in battle re-enactments. As a history major, Sexton said his interest in Civil War history has shifted beyond re-enactments to questions and issues.
Sexton spent the 1998-99 year as a visiting student at Oxford University studying the question of "Why did England not intervene in the American Civil War?" In addition to studying with an Oxford expert on 19th-century Ango-American relations, Sexton had access to historical documents available only in Britain.
Sexton's long-range goals include completing a doctorate in history and expanding his research into a book.
At KU, Sexton is a recipient of the Nelson Scholarship and a member of Phi Alpha Theta national honor society and the KU honors program. Sexton has served as a Big Brother, a tutor for high-risk students and a political party volunteer.
The British government founded the Marshall scholarships in 1953 to express gratitude for the Marshall Plan. Marshall scholarships have no specific age restrictions and are for recent graduates who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership qualities.
Sexton is also one of four KU students competing for a Rhodes Scholarship, which would provide a year of graduate study at Oxford.
Rhodes semi-finalists compete at the state level on Tuesday, Nov. 30, and Wednesday, Dec. 1, in Lawrence. Finalists are selected to compete at the regional level on Friday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 4, in Minneapolis. Rhodes winners are announced Dec. 4.
KU students have won 23 Rhodes and six Marshall scholarships.
Sexton is the son of Stan and Tommye Sexton, 2116 Court, Salina.