UPDATED: Dec. 4, 2017 at 5:14 p.m.

When it became clear he would apply for some of the most prestigious academic awards in the country, Cameron MacPherson knew that meant he’d need a number of endorsements. Eight recommendation letters, to be exact. It didn’t take long for interest to pour in.

Sixteen people contacted his academic adviser wanting to write letters on his behalf, including a football coach and professors in Syracuse University’s anthropology department and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. By October, MacPherson, an SU graduate student in Pan African studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, completed applications for The Rhodes Scholarship and George J. Mitchell Scholarship.

Last week, MacPherson won the Mitchell Scholarship, becoming the first SU recipient and one of only 12 students in the United States, selected from 300 applications this year, to receive the scholarship.

MacPherson, who withdrew his application from the Rhodes Scholarship to pursue the Mitchell Scholarship because interviews were held on the same day, will study intercultural theology at Trinity College in Dublin for one year, thanks to the award.

“When they called, I was shocked,” said MacPherson, a former member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program and a 2015-16 Remembrance Scholar. “I had met the finalists (and) thought I had no shot at it. I was just over the moon when I got the call.”

He’s the grandson of former Syracuse football head coach Dick MacPherson, who died in August. Dick led the Orange to five bowl games in 10 seasons as head coach, including an undefeated season in 1987. Growing up in Syracuse, some of MacPherson’s most vivid memories include attending church with his grandfather and watching SU football practices, he said.

Those experiences led him to play football and put him on his path to SU. After two seasons as a quarterback at Georgetown, MacPherson transferred to Syracuse. He played tight end from 2014 to 2016. While on the SU football team, he stayed at Manley Field House for five or six hours per day during the season, he said, while balancing two majors. He took at least 15 credits every semester. He said he has not received a grade below an A in a class at SU.

“I’ve always taken school very seriously,” he said. “That’s an important part of my identity. I view it as an extension of my own competitiveness … trying to balance school work, international relations, production work — it taught me the importance of each minute and ennsuring that what you’re doing, you’re really motivated to do.”

Friends and former teammates characterized MacPherson as humble, articulate and engaging. Hernz Laguerre, a former Syracuse football player, said he did not know MacPherson carried a 4.0 GPA until it was announced at an awards ceremony. They often discussed books together and their political views, because MacPherson is a “political junkie” and was an international relations major.

For years, MacPherson said he has followed politics and developed “very strong opinions.” He reads political news every day and has often participated in political conversations with football teammates over breakfast or in the locker room.

Last summer, MacPherson conducted research on grassroots social organizations in Boston’s Congolese community and served as a case manager at the Congolese Development Center. He has also interned with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office to learn more about public policy and refugee issues, he said. In 2015, he was a programming intern at ESPN. He also volunteers with “Writing Our Lives,” a creative literacy program for local middle school students.

Jolynn Parker, director of SU’s Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising in the Renée Crown University Honors Program, said MacPherson worked on about 12 drafts of his application essays, without editing help. During his interview for the Mitchell Scholarship, via Skype in Parker’s office, MacPherson performed spoken word poetry. It’s a hobby of his and a platform he uses to clear his mind.

“He is really precise about language, he is committed to revising his writing and he captures his ideas thoughtfully and in novel ways,” Parker said. “He’s multifaceted, with so many talents. He has an ability to connect with people from all corners of the campus and community.”

During a Syracuse Athletics awards ceremony in May, MacPherson performed a poem about the graduating class.

As a Remembrance Scholar, MacPherson performed a poem in honor of Thomas Schultz, whom he represented in honor of SU students killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing of 1988.

A couple of years ago, Laguerre, the former teammate, told MacPherson that he was headed for a poetry event at the Schine Student Center. When MacPherson asked to tag along, Laguerre thought he was a first-time poet. Yet MacPherson delivered an “incredible” poem.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that was deep,’” Laguerre said. “It was like a Rocky moment: Guy comes out of nowhere, you don’t know what to expect and he gets the knockout.”

MacPherson’s future plans include obtaining a doctorate degree and becoming a professor and an expert on resettlement and migration policy. He also wants to continue carrying the significance of the MacPherson name.

“It’s about honoring his legacy, trying to live a life he would be proud of,” MacPherson said of his grandfather. “Representing him is the thing that drives me to make the world a better place.”

CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this post, the years of Syracuse University student-athletes in attendance for Cameron MacPherson’s poetry performance were unclear.

Published on December 3, 2017 at 11:33 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21