Tyren Boyd Jr., a senior public policy leadership and rhetoric, writing and speech communication double major from Indianola, Miss., was named one of the 16 fellows in the 2025-26 cohort of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights John Lewis Young Leaders (JLYL) fellowship program on Monday, Aug 25.
Boyd was chosen out of a field of more than 550 nationwide applicants for the Washington D.C.-based program and was awarded a $1,000 fellowship.
Boyd became the first University of Mississippi student to be named a JLYL fellow.
“We have a lot of students who are very engaged on campus and off,” Melissa Bass, associate professor of public policy leadership, said. “It is fantastic that one of our students gets particularly singled out for their contributions.”
For Joseph Holland, associate public policy leadership professor, the selection makes sense.
“I’ve watched him grow over the last few years (at) Ole Miss,” Holland said. “I’ve seen him work in external organizations in Oxford and the Southeast, and he has been someone that I’ve observed and has been report(ed) by other individuals how competent he is, how great a character he is, how intellectual he is and how much of a servant leader that he is.”
Boyd’s advocacy started during his junior year of high school when he was working for Teen Health Mississippi, a non-profit organization that deals with sexual and reproductive health.
Boyd served as an advisor and senior advisor for the Mississippi Youth Council for two years and continued to return for the council’s Mobilizing Youth Summit. For the past five years, Boyd’s time with Teen Health Mississippi has taught him the importance of advocacy.
“I did not realize how impactful working with peers and ensuring people were prepared, educated and knowledgeable about certain things was until I started working on behalf of Teen Health Mississippi,” Boyd said. “I got a lot of experience talking to different policy makers and those who were in the section room of the health(care) space, and it kind of ignited the fire in me to know the impact as a young person in Mississippi to know what I can do when I raise my voice and when I raise my concerns.”
Boyd predominately advocates for issues with young people at the center.
“I am a person who goes over (and) beyond to ensure that young people are heard in those spaces,” Boyd said. “In whatever work that I do, (whether) sexual health, education, community engagement — wherever young people are, that is where I am.”
Boyd learned about the JLYL program through an email to public policy leadership students. For his application, he had to provide information on his advocacy journey and what he would do with his $1,000 capstone project funds.
The budget for Boyd’s plans is not finalized, but he plans to create and implement a new curriculum for his alma mater, Grenty High School in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District.
“What I am looking to do is create a ‘college and career curriculum’ that complements with what the Mississippi Department of Education already offers,” Boyd said.
Boyd’s plans are inspired by what he lacked in high school.
“A lot of people in the Delta do not have that financial literacy component because it is not often talked about or it is not already in the curriculum,” Boyd said.
Boyd plans to get the curriculum adopted once his fellowship is over.
“Maybe the ‘college and curriculum ready’ teachers in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District could use some components, if not the entire curriculum, to complement what they already have in place to teach the young people within the Delta,” Boyd said.
He has started his work with surveys and focus groups from teachers and students in the Delta to determine what they may need.
“I am also a community engagement minor,” Boyd said. “So I am always told if you are dealing with community people, you do not go in trying to tell them what they need, but also ask. I plan to take that information from what I already feel like they need and combine that, then create a curriculum based on that information between August and December and try to go into the classrooms myself in January to do some pilot stuff.”
Boyd believes this project will serve as an inspiration for the Delta community.
“This will help the Delta because they will see someone coming back who has made it out of the Delta who is about to graduate from a predominately white institution within the state of Mississippi for free on scholarship all three years that I have been here,” Boyd said. “Me, graduating early, they know that if I can do it, they can do it too. I want to say I am being a motivational piece for this, and this curriculum will also motivate them to know they can do it too.”
Mary Evans contributed reporting.
