PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania senior Joshua Bennett of Yonkers, New York has won a prestigious United Kingdom Government Marshall Scholarship for graduate studies in the U.K. He is among 35 winners of the prestigious scholarship.

Bennett, who is majoring in Africana studies and English at Penn, is a member of Penn’s Excellano Project spoken-word team, co-founder and former political action chair of the Penn NAACP chapter, co-founder and chair of the advocacy group Black Men United and co-founder and co-editor of the first U.S. undergraduate research journal of Africana studies. He is an active member of Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowship, participates in the University Scholars program and volunteers as an undergraduate research peer advisor. Bennett is Penn’s 10th Marshall Scholar and the eighth since 2000.

"Joshua has very impressive credentials but is even more impressive when you interact with him in person,” CURF Director Harriett Joseph said. “He will be a wonderful Marshall candidate at the University of Warwick, where he will pursue an M.A. in theatre and performance studies and begin his further research into improving education for the disabled.

Bennett, an HBO “Brave New Voices” poetry-slam champion, performed at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word last spring. He received a standing ovation from President and Mrs. Obama and 200 guests for his poem “Tamara’s Opus” about his struggle to communicate with his deaf sister. A clip is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5BwD8zOeM.