North Allegheny Grad Joins Elite Group of Rhodes Scholars

North Allegheny graduate Dakota E. McCoy has been named a Rhodes Scholar.

The Wexford resident is one of 32 Americans to receive the honor from a pool of 838 candidates who were nominated by their colleges and universities. They will start their studies at Oxford in October 2013. 

McCoy is a senior at Yale University where she majors in ecology and evolutionary biology. She is a Goldwater Scholar, a member of Phi Bet Kappa, and won the Frances Gordon Brown prize for intellectual distinction, leadership and service, according to her bio on the Rhodes Scholarship website.

She has several peer-reviewed publications and has done research projects in ecology, primate cognition and evolutionary biology. She is a member of the varsity track and field team, where she throws the javelin and runs hurdles—and is in Yale’s top 10 of all time in each discipline. She also volunteers for the Special Olympics and sings a capella. At Oxford, McCoy will do the M.Sc. by research in zoology.

"The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting outstanding all-round students at the University of Oxford, and providing transformative opportunities for exceptional individuals," the Rhodes website states. 

"Established in 1903 under the will of Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship program in the world," according to the website. "A class of 83 Scholars is selected each year from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica and Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe."

Rhodes' vision in founding the scholarship was to develop outstanding leaders who would be motivated to fight "the world's fight" and to "esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim", and to promote international understanding and peace, the website states..

Rhodes Scholars are chosen for outstanding scholarly achievements; character; commitment to others and to the common good; and for their potential for leadership in whatever domains their careers may lead. 

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