Senior Alex Hedrick ’26 has been named the 34th Country Day student to receive the prestigious and highly selective Morehead-Cain Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alex and Upper School English teacher Becca Stern
The oldest merit scholarship program in the United States, the Morehead-Cain Scholarship fully funds all costs associated with four years of undergraduate study at UNC-Chapel Hill and includes summer enrichment opportunities focused on leadership, research, and global experiences. Just three percent of candidates are selected for the scholarship each year.
Alex has distinguished herself through leadership, scholarship, service, and athletics. She serves as president of Study Buddies, a tutoring club that partners with Levine Children’s Hospital, and has volunteered with disabled track athletes through Special Olympics and as a RyzeAb0ve Fitness instructor. Alex is also captain of the cross country and track teams, a member of the Honor Council, president of the Spanish Club, and vice president of the Latin Club.
Alex’s passion for helping others has been deeply shaped by her family’s experience with cancer. After her uncle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2023, she became involved with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a way to “fight alongside him.” As a sophomore, Alex raised $70,000 and led an 11-member fundraising team to support cutting-edge blood cancer research in immunotherapy and personalized medicine. She was later selected to mentor future campaign leaders and serves as a Youth Leadership Committee chair, helping guide fundraising strategy and communication for younger participants.
Inspired by her advocacy work, Alex pursued laboratory research focused on Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and the use of CRISPR technology to target and destroy mutant genes. Her research was published in The American Journal of Student Research.
Alex plans to study community and global public health along with exercise and sports science.
Becca SternUpper School English Teacher“Alex is the type of person who makes excellence look effortless and compassion feel natural. Her brilliance is matched by her kindness, and she has the uncanny ability to lift everyone lucky enough to be around her. Alex brings empathy to everything she does, and shines light everywhere she enters.”
Alumni Awarded the Morehead-Cain Scholarship
Alex joins a long list of Country Day alumni who have been offered the Morehead-Cain Scholarship:
Randy Jones ’69
David Webb ’71
Frank Dowd ’74
Jenny Burns Petitto ’75
Louis Bledsoe III ’77
Wylie Lowery ’79
Eva Compton Crawford ’80
Amy Fonville Owen ’81
Marshall Mills ’82
Jennifer Smith ’82
Ben Sutker ’83
Terri Martin ’83
Henry Pharr ’84
Scott Huelin ’84
Liz Smith ’88
Jonathan Justice ’91
Kelly Walton Muir ’93
Ivon Rohrer ’96
Jeffrey McLamb ’97
Jay Kenney ’98
Alexis Blane ’98
Vida Harvey ’00
Thomas Cluderay ’03
George Hodgin ’05
Justin Loiseau ’07
Eryn Ratcliffe ’13
Ellie Teller ’14
Lili Zay ’16
Sally Sasz ’17
Samantha Ferris ’18
Zoe Conner '19
Laura Saavedra '21
Lulu Sasz '22