The beneficiaries of the Rhodes Scholarship for next year have recently been revealed. 32 students from various institutions were chosen to represent the United States at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2017.
The scholarship will carry the expenses fo the 32 chosen men and women for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford. Elliot F. Gerson, the American Secretary for the organization described the Rhodes Scholarship as "the oldest and best known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates."
The scholars were chosen based on a two-stage process. First, applicants must ensure an endorsement by their college or university.
Afterwards, they are chosen by the following critieria: academic excellence, great personal energy, ambition for impact as well as an ability to work with others and achieve one's goals. A Rhodes Scholar is also expected to be committed in making "a strong difference for good in the world."
Cameron Clarke, a student of Howard University, was selected as one of the Rhodes scholars. According to The Washington Post, he has become the fourth Rhodes scholar for the school and the first in more than a decade.
"It never really entered my mind," he said about landing the scholarship. "Now that it's real, it feels like it's almost a responsibility... I feel to some extent that I have to live up to the legacy."
Clarke has a double major in community health education and biology. He is planning to go to medical school. Moreover, by next year, he will be studying for a master of science degree in primary health care at the University of Oxford.
"We are extremely proud of Mr. Clarke's accomplishment," Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University, said. "Mr. Clarke's academic pursuits will lead to solutions in the broader society that are needed ever more so today. Cameron is the epitome of Howard University's gift of solutions to the world."
