UMSON Student Earns Prestigious Board of Regents Scholarship

Baltimore, Md. — University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) student Eniola Sokera has been named a recipient of the 2026 University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Student Excellence Scholarship, the highest honor presented by the board to recognize outstanding student achievement annually.

The scholarship recognizes exceptional undergraduate and graduate students across the USM for excellence in four categories: Academics, Scholarship, and Research; Innovation and Creative Activity; Leadership and Advocacy; and Outreach and Engagement. Twelve students were selected through a competitive application process for the 2026 awards.

Sokera, who earned her scholarship in the Outreach and Engagement category, is expected to graduate in December with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She has distinguished herself through leadership, advocacy, and service both on campus and internationally.

An executive board member and co-founder of the One in Ten Collective, an international women’s health community focusing on breast cancer and reproductive health education, Sokera has helped shine a spotlight on stigmatized women’s health conditions, including endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, through education, advocacy, and culturally responsive programming. In 2018, while in high school, she founded Project Opal, a grassroots initiative serving vulnerable communities in her native Lagos, Nigeria, providing essential resources to low-income individuals and families.

At UMSON, Sokera is a member of the inaugural Nursing Policy Academy and was selected through a competitive application process to attend the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s 2026 Student Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

“My passion for advocacy was born long before I ever stepped into nursing school. Growing up with elderly parents and as a Black woman in America, I learned early how fragile access to care can be for those who are marginalized,” Sokera wrote in an essay as part of her application to attend the summit. “Advocacy is not an extension of my nursing identity; it is the foundation of it.”

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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling nearly 2,100 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.