KeyShawn Phillips has been awarded the Andrew J. Swope Scholarship for Equity and Justice. This scholarship is awarded annually to a graduate student pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in urban studies who has demonstrated a passion for and commitment to inclusive urban development like equitable housing and transit access.
Phillips, a second-year student in the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program, majored in math as an undergrad. He credits the program with making him a better writer: “I never wrote a paper so having to write a 20-page paper at the end of a class was tough, but I loved it because it pushed me to learn a new skill.”
Phillips also credits the theoretical side of the program: ” I read a lot better now. I’m able to discuss concepts in more theoretical terms instead of just baseline statements.” Dr. Jan Nijman, Director of the Urban Studies Institute and Keyshawn’s professor in the course Remaking the City, noted on the occasion of the award that “Keyshawn is the sort of student we want in our program: eager to learn about urban studies in theory and practice, and inspired to make our cities better places to live for all.”
Transportation is a passion of KeyShawn within urban studies. He loves public transit and tries to ride the trains and buses whenever he travels to different cities. Phillips also dreams of an ideal world where Atlanta’s MARTA system can hit all of the metro cities at least. “I say this because from Douglasville it’s about an hour and a half drive to work every day. I would love to be able to drive to a train station in Douglasville. Now I would have to drive 40 minutes to the closest station and at that point, I might as well drive. If every city had some kind of bus system to get residents to the train stations, that would be ideal.”
The Andrew J. Swope Scholarship for Equity and Justice was created to honor the memory of Andrew J. Swope who was devoted to developing affordable housing in Atlanta.