Seeking Justice: Smith Recipients Advocate for Educational Equity, Disability Rights
June 2, 2026
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Rui Rui Bleifuss spent her high school and college years advocating for people with disabilities. Nina Worley spent her high school and college years advocating for all children to have access to a quality education.
The two Davidson College leaders from the Class of 2026 have worked tirelessly toward those goals with a common value: to make life better and more fair for others.
They both came to Davidson as Belk Scholars, excelled during their four years and recently graduated as this year’s recipients of the college’s Smith Scholarship.
The W. Thomas Smith Scholarship honors graduating seniors for outstanding academic achievement, leadership, character and community service. It models scholarships such as the Rhodes and Fulbright and pays for a year of graduate study abroad.
Learn more about these impressive young alumnae:
Rui Rui Bleifuss ’26 has spent most of her life fighting for disability justice, starting a disability alliance club in high school and leading one at Davidson College, where she majored in disability studies. She will head to University College London to pursue a master’s degree in Humanitarian Policy and Practice.
Nina Worley ’26 spent her four years at Davidson College studying and researching education policy in the United States and abroad. She co-founded a tutoring program that matches Davidson students with struggling young readers and has been a passionate advocate for educational equity. Worley will spend the next year pursuing a master’s degree in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast.
The Smith Scholarship competition is administered through the Office of Fellowships.
For more information about the Office of Fellowships or applying for the Smith Scholarship, visit davidson.edu/fellowships.
