W&L’s Lily Mott ’23 Awarded Fulbright to the United Kingdom Mott will pursue a master’s degree in digital media and society at Cardiff University.
Washington and Lee University senior Lily Mott ’23 has been awarded a Fulbright Master of Arts Degree Award to the United Kingdom. A native of Evergreen, Colorado, Mott is majoring in journalism and politics at W&L.
The Fulbright United Kingdom Partnership Awards allow students to pursue a graduate degree at an institution of higher learning in the UK. Mott will study digital media and society at Cardiff University, a top-25 university in the UK and a global leader in research. The Fulbright Cardiff University Award will cover tuition as well as provide living and travel stipends. The digital media and society master’s program explores the role of new digital media in shaping and transforming society, focusing on citizen journalism, social media, and the effects of media production on politics, business, technology, power structures and social change.
“The Fulbright to study at Cardiff University offers an opportunity to not only continue my studies but hopefully kickstart my career in the United Kingdom,” Mott said.
Mott spent her junior year studying at the University of Oxford as part of the Mansfield College Visiting Student Program and interned for a media company in Dublin, Ireland, during summer 2022. After completing the master’s program, she hopes to continue to live and work as a journalist in the UK.
“Lily has a razor-sharp mind, and her intellectual curiosity and enthusiastic sense of purpose are infectious,” said Mark Coddington, associate professor of journalism and mass communications. “It’s rare to meet a student who not only has Lily’s initiative and drive, but who genuinely wants to use that drive to serve others and make the world better.”
Kevin Finch, associate professor of journalism and mass communications, has mentored Mott during her time on campus, both as her advisor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications and as a lead supervisor for the Rockbridge Report, for which Mott has served as an anchor, reporter and producer.
“Lily arrived on this campus not just prepared for college, but ready to launch her career. She had — and has — so much drive, which you could see even when she was a first-year student,” Finch said. “I threw her in the deep end her first term when she auditioned to anchor our live cable TV newscast, the Rockbridge Report, but I knew she could handle it, and she did — she flourished. Lily will hit the ground running in Wales and learn and grow and place herself in a great position to launch what promises to be an amazing career.”
On campus, Mott is primarily involved in student journalism and community service organizations, including the Rockbridge Report. She is the president of W&L’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, a staff reporter for the Ring-tum Phi, a tutor at the Writing Center and a Burish intern, which gives her the opportunity to tutor second graders at Central Elementary School. Mott is also a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Phi Eta Sigma, and is involved in W&L’s College Democrats, the Nabors Service League, the Executive Committee’s Community Engagement and Service Learning Committee, the First Year Orientation Committee’s Communication Leadership Team and Mock Convention.
Mott’s involvement across campus speaks to her passion for public service and commitment to making a difference wherever she goes. This ambition led her to create and produce her own podcast, “Be the Change,” which showcases the voices of young people around the world who are working to enact positive change.
“The guests Lily has had on her podcast exemplify her commitment to and appreciation for diversity in all of its forms,” said Toni Locy, professor of journalism and mass communications. “What impresses me about Lily is that she is very caring, collaborative and creative, and she will make her own opportunities. Her podcast was not a class assignment, but something she did all by herself. It shows that she has this commitment to public service and understands journalism is about public service.”
With the Fulbright award, Mott will depart in September 2023 for her 10-month program. Upon completion of her degree, she hopes to participate in an apprenticeship program with the BBC and pursue her goal to work for the BBC as an international correspondent between the UK and the U.S.
The Fulbright Program was established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Washington and Lee University is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2022-2023 Fulbright U.S. Students for the fifth consecutive year.
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