2 MI Students Were Named As Rhodes Scholars

MICHIGAN — Two Michigan students were announced Saturday as Rhodes Scholars to study at the University of Oxford next October, according to a news release.

Hannah M. T. Blakey from Detroit, is a senior at the United States Military Academy, where she majors in Persian and French. She is also third-in-command of West Point’s entire Corps of Cadets as well as President of a leadership initiative for students from underrepresented backgrounds. At Oxford, she will pursue both an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and an MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy.

Rachael L. M. Merritt from Grand Rapids, is a senior at the University of Michigan, where she majors in International Studies and Russian Language and Culture. She also studied at two Russian universities, and is currently doing research on human trafficking in central Asia. She will do the MSc in Russian and Eastern European Studies and the MSc in Social Science and the Internet at Oxford.

Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford, which is ranked the number one university in the world in some global rankings.

The total value of the Scholarship averages $75,000 per year, and up to as much as US$250,000 for Scholars who remain at Oxford for four years in certain departments.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process:

First, applicants must be endorsed by their college or university. This year more than 2,300 students began the application process, in which 826 were endorsed by 247 different colleges and universities.

Committees of Selection in each of 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to appear before them for interview. Each district interviewed at least 14 finalists.

The 32 Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from 23 other jurisdictions, which came from more than 60 countries.