American Rhodes Scholars Class Of 2018 Announced

The American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2018 was announced over the weekend and this year's scholars represent a diverse group with 10 of the 32 selected students being African-Americans, the most ever in a U.S. Rhodes class.

The 32 scholars were chosen from a pool of 866 candidates endorsed by their colleges or universities and the scholars will begin courses at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2018. The Americans will join an international group of scholars chosen from 64 different countries.

“This year’s selections—independently elected by 16 committees around the country meeting simultaneously—reflects the rich diversity of America," Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said in a press release. "It includes, among others, ten African-Americans, the most ever elected in a U.S. Rhodes class; African and Asian immigrants; other Asian, Muslim, and Latino Americans; an Alaskan Native (Aleut); a transgender man, the second self-acknowledged transgender Rhodes Scholar after Pema McLaughlin was elected last year; and four from colleges that have never before elected Rhodes Scholars in the 115 years of the United States Rhodes Scholarships (Hunter College, CUNY; Temple University; the University of Alaska Anchorage; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. They plan to study a wide range of fields across the social sciences, biological and medical sciences, physical sciences and mathematics, and the humanities.”

Applicants are selected on the basis of academic excellence but that is only describe as a threshold condition. Scholars should also have "great personal energy, ambition for impact and should be committed to make a difference in the world" among other things.

The program is highly competitive and this year, more than 2,500 students sought an endorsement from their college or institution and 866 received the endorsement.

The scholarship was created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, a British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The scholarship provides all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford.

>>>You can see the full list of American scholars here.

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