Morgan Locklear ’25 awarded prestigious Udall Scholarship

Furman University health sciences major Morgan Locklear ’25 of Lake Wylie, South Carolina, is a 2024 recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship. Awarded to only 55 undergraduates from 50 colleges and universities in the United States, the $7,000 scholarship supports Native Americans and Alaska natives pursuing health-related careers or who are working on tribal policy issues. The scholarship is also open to students of any ethnic background who are interested in conservation and environmental issues.

Locklear, a member of the Lumbee tribe, is committed to curbing the incidence of treatable eye disease in Native American communities, especially those who live in and near Pembroke, North Carolina, home to about 3,000 Lumbee including her father’s side of the family. After graduating, she plans to enroll at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville and later focus on ophthalmology during residency.

“My cultural identity as a Lumbee Indian is so valuable to me,” she said. “I’ve always known about my heritage, but I didn’t fully process what it meant until I got older.”

Locklear’s curiosity about her roots spurred questions about her life’s ambition and how she might serve her people.

Locklear is a member of the Lumbee tribe.

“The Pembroke area is rural and lacks equitable access to quality, affordable health care,” she explained. “Recognizing this disparity and seeing how my own family is impacted inspires me to pursue a career in health care. Serving as a healthcare professional is my way of honoring my heritage and giving back to my community.”

The Lumbee number 60,000, representing the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi. They and other indigenous people in the nation are disproportionately impacted by diabetes, which often leads to diseases of the eye, such as diabetic retinopathy, among other complications. “I want to do my part to ease this hardship,” Locklear said. “My goal is to specialize in preserving and restoring sight because vision has such a dramatic and immediate impact on a patient’s quality of life.”

Locklear, a Furman Hollingsworth Scholar and a Phi Beta Kappa inductee, said she’s known for years that she would go to medical school to fulfill her desire to assist Native Americans. But a May Experience course in which she shadowed at a Cambodian hospital galvanized her plans.

“There are many parallels between tribal communities in Cambodia and the U.S. regarding ethnic medicine practices and inequitable access to health care and basic public health,” she said.

She noted that American Indians have a life expectancy that is nearly six years shorter than the average U.S. life expectancy for whites. And like in Cambodia, historical trauma combined with cultural, economic and social factors have levied a heavy toll on health outcomes for Native Americans.

“In Cambodia, I gained a greater awareness of the varied beliefs and social stigmas surrounding health care. My aim is to apply that kind of intercultural understanding to a career in medicine,” Locklear added.

Meantime, through a fellowship from The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health at Furman, Locklear is interning with LiveWell Greenville where she works with the group’s Food Security Coalition updating the Greenville County Food Resource Guide, among other tasks.

This fall, she’ll take the reins as president of the Native American and Indigenous Association, and through Heller Service Corps she volunteers for Servants for Sight, which connects people in under-resourced communities to optometrists and ophthalmologists who offer free or low-cost eye care.

Locklear is the first Udall Scholarship honoree from Furman in 11 years. She joins five other Furman Udall Scholars since the award was established in 1996.

She credits staff and faculty who have supported and encouraged her at Furman including her Pathways advisor Andy Coe, director of the internship office, who helped her navigate the myriad possibilities at Furman, and Scott Henderson, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education and director of national and international scholarships, for his invaluable insights into the application process.

She leaned on Linnea Freeman, associate professor of biology, who wrote countless letters on Locklear’s behalf and instilled in her an early belief that pre-med was the right track. Her academic advisor Anna Cass, an associate professor of health sciences, continues to ignite Locklear’s passion for public health and wellness.

As a Pathways peer mentor, Locklear taught a Pathways class with Ken Peterson, an economics professor, from whom she gleaned wise counsel as she pushed through the stress of applications while juggling academic demands.

She and this year’s cohort of Udall honorees will convene in Tucson for where they’ll participate in professional development and training sessions with environmental and native professionals, learn new ways to collaborate and build community with each other and Udall alumni.