Rhodes Scholarship

Rhodes House in Oxford, designed by Sir Herbert Baker

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The Rhodes Scholarship is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale program of international scholarships, founded in 1902 by the will of Oxford alumni Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes Scholars may study any full-time postgraduate course offered by the University, whether a taught Master’s program, a research degree, or a second undergraduate degree (senior status).

In the context of what has been called the Scramble for Africa, Rhodes was one of the most significant and influential promoters of Britain's imperial interests. He thought the British destined to rule other peoples, for whose rights he had little if any concern. Rhodes had profited greatly by exploiting Southern Africa's natural resources, proceeds of which founded the Rhodes Scholarship upon his death. Despite an originally racist assumption, Africans and others, however, have benefited from these scholarships.

Overview

Cecil Rhodes

The Rhodes Scholarship is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale program of international scholarships. The program was founded in 1902, by the will of Oxford alumnus Cecil John Rhodes. These scholarships bring highly accomplished students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as postgraduates; these students often return to their home countries to pursue leadership positions in academia, business, or politics.

The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Academically, Oxford is consistently ranked in the world's top ten universities. Oxford's prestige makes the Rhodes' scholarship a competitive achievement for the world's scholars and academics. The scholarship is available to those who have already achieved an undergraduate (Bachelors) degree, and is for two years in the first instance, though may be held for one year only; applications for a third year are considered during the course of the 2nd year. There are other criteria for eligibility, which vary by country. University and College fees are paid by the Rhodes Trust. In addition, Scholars receive a monthly maintenance stipend to cover accommodation and living expenses. Although all scholars become affiliated with a residential college while at Oxford, they also enjoy access to Rhodes House, an early twentieth century mansion with numerous public rooms, gardens, a library, study areas, and other facilities.

History

Cecil John Rhodes was a British-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was an ardent believer in colonialism and was the founder of the state of Rhodesia, which was named after him. Rhodesia, later Northern and Southern Rhodesia, eventually became Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively. Although Rhodes remained a leading figure in the politics of southern Africa, especially during the Second Boer War, he was dogged by ill health throughout his relatively short life. Rhodes died in 1902, and was considered at the time one of the wealthiest men in the world.

In his first will (before he had any real money), Rhodes wanted to create a secret society that would bring the whole world under British rule. The exact wording of the will is as follows:

To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonization by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire and, finally, the foundation of so great a Power as to render wars impossible, and promote the best interests of humanity.

In his last will and testament, he provided for the establishment of the Rhodes Scholarships. The scholarship program enabled students from territories under British rule, formerly under British rule, or from Germany, to study at the University of Oxford. This legacy originally provided for scholarships for the British colonies, the United States, and Germany. These three were chosen so that "an understanding between the three great powers will render war impossible."

Rhodes, who attended Oxford University, chose his Alma mater as the site of his great experiment because he believed its residential colleges provided the ideal environment for intellectual contemplation and personal development.

Cecil Rhodes (Sketch by Mortimer Menpes)

Rhodes' vision for the scholarships did not hold long; his bequest was whittled down considerably in the first decades after his death, as various scholarship trustees were forced to pay taxes upon their own deaths. A change occurred in 1929, when an Act of Parliament established a fund separate from the original proceeds of Rhodes' will. This made it possible to expand the number of scholarships. For example, between 1993 and 1995, scholarships were extended to other countries in the European Community. However, the sentiment of exclusion remained for a long time. The elimination of the scholarships for Germany during World Wars I and II, illustrated the biased selection of the trustees.

Because the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in the United Kingdom did not affect wills, it took another Act of Parliament to change the Rhodes' will to extend selection criteria in 1977 to include women. Since then, numerous women, almost three hundred by the end of the twentieth century, have been admitted into the Rhodes Scholarship program,, some of the most notable being Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, who was Administrator of the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration from 1997-2000, Heather Wilson, a U.S. Congresswoman from New Mexico, Elizabeth Kiss, President of Agnes Scott College and Naomi Wolf, American author and feminist social critic. It should be noted that while more and more women are being accepted into the program for many different disciplines, they still represent a minority of Rhodes Scholarship winners.

Standards and administration

Rhodes' legacy specified four standards by which applicants were to be judged:

• literary and scholastic attainments;
• energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;
• truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
• moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings.

The scholarships are administered and awarded by the Rhodes Trust which was established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of Cecil John Rhodes will. Scholarships have been awarded to applicants annually since 1904 on the basis of academic achievement and strength of character. There have been more than 7,000 Rhodes Scholars since the inception of the Trust.

There were originally 52 scholarships. During the ensuing 100 years, the Trustees added at one time or another approximately another 40 scholarships, though not all have continued. Some of these extended the scheme to Commonwealth countries not mentioned in the Will. A more detailed allocation by region by year can be found at Rhodes Scholarship Allocations. Very brief summaries of some of the terms and conditions can be found on the Trust's web site "Rhodes Scholarship FAQ".

Currently, scholars are selected from citizens of 14 specified geographic constituencies, namely: Australia; Bermuda; Canada; Germany; Hong Kong; India; Jamaica & Commonwealth Caribbean; Kenya; New Zealand; Pakistan; Southern Africa (South Africa and neighbors Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland); USA; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

Notable Rhodes Scholarship recipients

Below is a sample list of notable Rhodes Scholarship alumni.

• Albrecht Graf von Bernstorff - Admitted to the Rhodes' scholarship in 1909, was a Prussian Statesman, holding the office of Prussian Minister to England, and Foreign Minister of Prussia.

• Edwin Hubble - Admitted to Rhodes' scholarship in 1910, was a famed American astronomer who profoundly changed astronomers' understanding of the nature of the universe by demonstrating the existence of other galaxies besides the Milky Way. He also discovered that the degree of redshift observed in light coming from a galaxy increased in proportion to the distance of that galaxy from the Milky Way. This became known as Hubble's law, and would help establish that the universe is expanding.

• Norman Manley - Admitted to Rhodes' scholarship in 1914, became one of Jamaica's leading advocate of the universal suffrage that was granted the colony in 1944, served as the colony's Chief Minister from 1955 to 1959, and as Premier from 1959 to 1962.

• Howard Florey - Admitted to the Rhodes' scholarship in 1921, was an Australian pharmacologist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in the extraction of penicillin.

• John Eccles - Admitted to the Rhodes' scholarship in 1925, was an Australian neurophysiologist who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse, shared the prize together with Andrew Fielding Huxley and Alan Lloyd Hodgkin.

• James William Fulbright - Admitted to the Rhodes' scholarship in , was a United States Senator representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975, a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist, supported the creation of the United Nations and opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee, is remembered for his efforts to establish an international exchange program, which thereafter bore his name, the Fulbright Fellowships.

• John Turner - Admitted to the Rhodes Scholarship in 1949, was the seventeenth Prime Minister of Canada from June 30, 1984 to September 17, 1984 and is the countries oldest living former Prime Minister.

• Tanjore R. Anantharaman - Admitted to the Rhodes Scholarship in 1951, one of India's pre-eminent metallurgist and materials scientist, known for his efforts centering around pioneering contributions on Rapidly Solidified Alloys and Metallic Glasses.

• Wasim Sajjad - Admitted to the Rhodes Scholarship in 1964, a Pakistani lawyer and senator, he also serve twice as President of Pakistan.

• William Jefferson Clinton - Admitted to the Rhodes Scholarship in 1968, American politician, 42nd President of the United States, 1993-2001, Governor of Arkansas, 1979-1981 & 1983-1993.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Rotberg, Robert I. The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0195049688
• Kenny, Anthony (ed.). The History of the Rhodes Trust: 1902-1999. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0199201914
• Thomas, Anthony. Rhodes: The Race for Africa. London Bridge, 1997. ISBN 0563387424

External links

• The Rhodes Trust
• History of Rhodes Trust and Rhodes Scholarship
• Information about the Scholarships
• The Rhodes Scholarships Australia
• Bermuda Rhodes Scholarship
• The Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars
• The Rhodes Trust in Germany
• Indian Rhodes Scholarships
• Committee for Jamaica and the Commonwealth Caribbean
• New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee page on Rhodes Scholarships
• Southern African Rhodes Scholarships
• The Rhodes Trust, USA
• Association of American Rhodes Scholars
• United States Naval Academy Rhodes Scholars

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