This American became a 2x Gates Cambridge Scholar and PhD in Criminology student

Jasmine Jordan had a dream, but she had to put it on hold for a while. And the reason is because she’s working on something important. 

“I always wanted to go to law school, but I ended up pursuing something else,” she explains.

The thing is, Jordan considered attending law school after graduating. However, life took a turn, and as of today, she has spent four years of her life in the UK pursuing a fully funded master’s and PhD in Criminology at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholarship awardee.

Jordan also completed a Master’s in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. Source: Jasmine Jordan

History + tears + influence = PhD in Criminology

Again, pursuing a PhD in Criminology, specifically in mass incarceration, wasn’t always in the cards for Jordan — law was the ultimate goal in life for her. 

It was in second grade when she first learnt about mass incarceration. She was appalled by it, but it piqued her interest.

“I remember learning about slavery and how it spirals into mass incarceration, and I cried,” Jordan recalls. “I was sobbing and asking why no one is talking about this all the time? I was just so shocked by it all.”

That was when she decided to dedicate her life to learning and understanding it.

Her history lesson wasn’t the only reason she wanted to pursue a law degree; in fact, her parents played a significant role in her decision.

Jordan is originally from Detroit, Michigan, US. Source: Jasmine Jordan

Jordan’s father, Jamon Jordan, is the first and official historian of the City of Detroit. Her mother is a biology and chemistry teacher. 

“Both my parents are strong believers in education, and when I was in second grade, my dad gifted me a book about Thurgood Marshall,” Jordan shares. “Then, I read ‘The New Jim Crow’ by Michelle Alexander, and I was like, ‘I’m going to law school. ’”

Well, she didn’t.

After high school, Jordan pursued a BA in Political Science with minors in Education and African American and African Studies from Michigan State University.

Before moving to the UK to further her studies, Jordan completed a BA in Political Science at Michigan State University. Source: Jasmine Jordan

She won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship — twice

It was the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when Jordan was stuck on campus. What was worse was that her parents had COVID, and her grandmother passed from it. 

She was lost, but a professor approached her and asked her if she considered applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. 

Jordan spent five weeks in the UK as part of her undergraduate degree, and since she loved Harry Potter, pursuing a degree at Oxford University was a dream. She considered it; however, she never considered herself as someone the scholarship would be interested in.

“When you hear about Rhodes Scholars, you’d think of some who want to be president or have done many things in their life,” Jordan laughs.

Either way, she decided to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship as well as the Marshall Scholarship and the Mitchell Scholarship.

Jordan made it to the finals for the scholarships. 

Everyone around her knew she was applying for the three scholarships, but Jordan had a secret — she applied for a fourth scholarship, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. 

Jordan’s PhD title is “The Symbiotic Harms of Incarceration: Political and Community Effects of the Incarceration of Black Women”. Source: Jasmine Jordan

“For the Rhodes scholarship, they announced the winners in a Zoom call with all the finalists in it, and I cried when they said a name that isn’t mine,” Jordan recalls. “But three weeks later, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship emailed me saying I was a finalist.” 

Not only was she a finalist, but she was also chosen as the recipient of the scholarship.

In 2021, Jordan moved across the pond to pursue a Master’s degree in Criminology at the University of Cambridge.

The thing is, while she was applying for the scholarships, Jordan also applied to law schools. She was accepted into Cornell University and deferred her enrollment to pursue her master’s at Cambridge. 

However, she ended up ghosting Cornell because she won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship again to pursue a PhD in Criminology.

“I actually applied for the Rhodes for the second time to pursue a PhD, and I got into the finals, but they decided to choose someone else,” Jordan shares. “I also applied for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and won again.”

Jordan started her PhD in Criminology at Cambridge in January 2023 and is set to graduate in 2026 or 2027.