u of s law grad, rhodes scholar hopes oxford experience will help her community
kennedy marley will research issues related to the sentencing of indigenous offenders during her graduate program at oxford next fall.
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on a sunday last month, 23-year-old kennedy marley spent most of the day staring at her phone and the clock, expecting a very important call. the recent university of saskatchewan college of law grad said it was initially kind of confusing when she was told she’d received the university of oxford’s rhodes scholarship, one of the most prestigious in the world.
“the way they worded the phone call was not like, ‘you’ve won,’ or anything; they kind of worded it as ‘we’ve decided to nominate you as a rhodes scholar elect,’ and that wasn’t the language i was expecting, so it took me a second to register oh my gosh, like, this happened,” kennedy said.
“there was a lot of anticipation leading up to the phone call, and then just a lot of tears.”
kennedy, who is clerking at the saskatchewan court of appeal in regina, where she grew up, said the application process is rigorous. only 11 of around 100 rhodes scholarships are given out in canada, including three to scholars from the prairie region. this year, two of those three went to u of s students — kennedy, and college of engineering student colin dyck.
the rhodes scholarship, established in 1903, provides full tuition for graduate studies at the world-class research university in oxford, england. kennedy says she will be studying criminal law from a defence perspective, researching issues related to the sentencing of indigenous offenders. her classes begin in september 2025.
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she was initially pursuing a career in medicine.
“it just wasn’t quite sitting right with me,” kennedy said. after the pandemic, she dropped her science classes and replaced them with humanities courses.
“and it just felt right.”
kennedy said her curiosity about law resurfaced at the end of her first school year, stemming from her older brother’s experience in the criminal justice system as both an offender and a victim.
“that is, i think, the true reason why i felt driven to pursue law in the first place,” she said.
she excelled in it. her accomplishments and awards include the order of gabriel dumont bronze medal, which recognizes leadership, community service and academic performance.
saskatoon defence lawyer brian pfefferle met kennedy during her criminal law practicum. he said she processes, digests and analyzes complex information at a level he’s rarely seen.
“she is not an idle observer. as a student she advanced files. she was instrumental in drafting submissions to the supreme court of canada that were ready for submission, unedited. it is hard to believe that she is so young, yet so wise,” he said.
kennedy said she remembers restarting a finished project in elementary school the day before it was due because to her, it wasn’t good enough.
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“i think it’s just my character to see what i am capable of achieving. i’d say i’m very competitive with myself.”
she said there’s no rivalry between her and her twin, caydence, who’s also a high-achieving law grad. she won the law society of saskatchewan’s gold medal for top marks in her class. kennedy got the silver medal.
“we have such a strong relationship, we are quite literally best friends, and i don’t think that either of us has ever felt a sense of resentment toward one another if one succeeds. we just have different successes all the time,” kennedy said.
“growing up, our mother impressed on us the value and importance of pursuing education to lift up the future generations in our indigenous community. kennedy has committed herself to that, and her academic successes and pursuits are helping to move our community forward in a good way,” caydence said.
reconnecting with her métis culture, and the relationships she’s made in the community, have informed how she practices and researches law, and her understanding of the people she represents, kennedy said.
“i say one of the greatest things a lawyer can bring is life perspective. we have a disproportionately indigenous client base. having an indigenous woman — in this case two of them — who are quite literally genius-level intelligent is an exciting opportunity for our bar and the future clients they serve,” pfefferle said.
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“i hope that this experience for me is not just about what am i going to gain from my experience at oxford, but it’s about how can i use my experience at oxford to contribute in a good way to my community, and that’s the one thing i feel is kind of missed in some of the stories about rhodes scholars and people who’ve studied at oxford,” kennedy said.
she acknowledges this kind of educational opportunity is a privilege.
“i feel it’s my responsibility to make the most of these experiences, do the best work that i can, and actively make space for indigenous perspectives in law and academia. although law school was by no means easy, keeping this bigger purpose in mind is certainly something that motivated me throughout.”
caydence said despite her sister’s academic success story, “rhodes scholar,” “silver medalist” and “future lawyer” aren’t the titles she’s most proud of.
it’s “aunty ken.”
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