Rising UNCW seniors McKenna Beard ’27 and Rianza de Wet ’27 are among nine winners of a prestigious DeJoy-Woś scholarship.

Supported by The DeJoy-Woś Family Foundation, the 2026 scholars receive full scholarships to participate in the TFAS Academic Internship Program in Washington, D.C., where they will intern with leading organizations and complete courses through George Mason University.

Beard is a native of Gastonia and majoring in political science and criminology with a minor in sociology. The scholarship will enable her to further explore her interests in government and policy while learning crucial economic principles. She will be interning in the Office of Representative David Rouzer

She has previously interned in Senator Ted Budd’s office, worked on North Carolina State Senator Michael Lee’s campaign and at the Gaston County Courthouse. She studied abroad in Italy.

de Wet is an Honors student majoring in English, minoring in Spanish. Originally from South Africa, she is interested in how storytelling shapes understanding across communities. A recipient of the Wentworth Fellowship, she has conducted research in Rome and studied abroad in Argentina. She will be interning at FedNet.

Louis DeJoy served as the 75th U.S. Postmaster General from 2020-25 and currently serves as President of LDJ Global Strategies. His wife, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia, The Honorable Aldona Woś, M.D., currently serves as president emerita and vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of World Politics and vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Learn more about the 2026 DeJoy-Woś Scholars on the TFAS website.