The commissioners, management and staff of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) have expressed collective congratulations to Miss Jamaica Festival Queen 2023 Aundrene Cameron on being named the Jamaica Rhodes Scholar for 2025.

The JCDC said all are brimming with pride on Cameron’s latest achievement, noting it marks another impressive rung on the ladder of ascension being undertaken by the St Catherine native. The 2023 Festival Queen is set to take up post-graduate studies in criminology at the prestigious Oxford University in the United Kingdom, 

“This ambitious young Jamaican woman is no stranger to such accolades,” the JCDC said, adding that she “puts no limit on what’s possible”.

Cameron holds a law degree with first-class honours from The University of the West Indies, Mona, and is now finalising her Certificate in Legal Education at the Norman Manley Law School. She was also named valedictorian at the UWI when she graduated in 2023.

Cameron was also the recipient of the Governor General Achievement Award (2024) for the parish of St Catherine and is most remembered at the JCDC for winning most of the sectional prizes at the Miss St Catherine Festival Queen Coronation on her way to winning that title.  She repeated the same feat at the National Coronation on her way to being named Miss Jamaica Festival Queen 2023.

Executive director of the JCDC Lenford Salmon highlighted that Cameron’s latest milestone is a clear indication of the heights she intends to climb in the years to come.

“This is just amazing. The entire team at the JCDC is extremely proud of this achievement by Aundrene. She was not only a fantastic Festival Queen, but just a fantastic human being who  typifies the qualities of our queens and the competition in general,” he shared.

“I am not surprised that her studies will be in the area of criminology, which not only examines the criminal justice system but also crime and criminal behaviour in general. This goes to the heart of who she is. One just has to take a look at her national project “Girls Fight Back”, which put gender-based violence under the microscope, while empowering females. The JCDC has nothing but the very best wishes for Aundrene as she writes another amazing chapter in her life” Salmon concluded.

For Cameron, the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition is not the only JCDC product that she has participated in. She can truly be considered a “JCDC Baby” having also entered the Festival of the Arts competition, in the area of dance, during her primary and secondary school years.

The Rhodes Scholarship is considered the most prestigious international scholarship programme, offering higher-level education at the world-renowned Oxford University to bright, young minds from across the globe. JCDC expressed confidence that Cameron will continue to make Jamaica proud.