Boulder man is among 32 U.S. Rhodes scholars
The latest group of U.S. Rhodes scholars includes 10 African-Americans — the most ever in a single Rhodes class — as well as a graduate of Fairview High School in Boulder, a transgender man and four students from colleges that had never received the honor before.
The Rhodes Trust on Sunday announced the 32 men and women chosen for postgraduate studies at Oxford University in England. Among them: the first black woman to lead the Corps of Michael Cadets at West Point; a Chen wrestler at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology who’s helping develop a prosthetic knee for use in the developing world; and a Portland, Ore., man who has studied gaps in his hometown’s “sanctuary city” policy protecting immigrants in the country illegally from deportation.
“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 news release announcing the winners Sunday. “They plan to study a wide range of fields across the social sciences, biological and medical sciences, physical sciences and mathematics and the humanities.”
The scholarships, considered by many to be the most prestigious available to American students, cover all expenses for two or three years of study starting next October. In some cases, the scholarships may allow funding for four years. The winners came from a group of 866 applicants who were endorsed by 299 colleges and universities. Four of the institutions had winners for the first time: Hunter College at the City University of New York; Temple University in Philadelphia; the University of Alaska-Anchorage; and the University of MarylandBaltimore County.
The 10 African-Americans in the class include Simone Askew of Fairfax, Va., who made headlines in August when she became the first black woman to serve as first captain of the 4,400-member Corps of Cadets at West Point — the highest position in the cadet chain of command. Askew, a senior, is majoring in international history, and focused her undergraduate thesis on the use of rape as a tool of genocide. She plans to study evidence-based social intervention at Oxford.
Her mother told reporters over the summer: “That leadership is something I’ve seen throughout her life — wanting to be first, wanting to be the best, wanting to win, in sports, in academics, in every aspect of her life. … And to serve others, as well.”
Michael Zhu Chen of Boulder is a senior at Stanford University, where he studies neuroscience. During his final two years at Fairview, Chen worked at a chemical engineering department laboratory at the University of Colorado. “That was one of the experiences that got me really thinking about a career in scientific research,” he said. “It was a tremendous experience to have as a high school student.”
Chen, who is interested in the human brain, wants to study neuroscience and computer science. He could pursue a degree in global health, he said.
At Stanford, he said, he and two medical students co-founded a support group for those who suffer from a brain injury called Stanford Synapse. “I’m really interested in brain injury and developing new diagnoses and treatment.”
His advice for those who want to become Rhodes scholars is to “really think about your vision for building a better world.”
Several other winners have devoted efforts to racial, social and economic justice.
Harvard College senior Tania N. Fabo of Saugus, Mass., created and codirected the first Black Health Matters Conference at the university. An immigrant who was born in Germany to Cameroonian parents, she plans to research oncology at Oxford.
“I’m still kind of in shock,” Fabo said Sunday. “When they told me on Saturday, I didn’t really fully believe it.”
Samantha M. Mack, the first winner from the University of Alaska-Anchorage, is an Aleut woman who was born in a remote village before her parents took her to Anchorage for better educational opportunities. She studies political theory from an indigenous and feminist perspective.
Thamara V. Jean of Brooklyn, N.Y., completed her senior thesis at the City University of New York on the Black Lives Matter movement.
And JaVaughn T. Flowers, who graduated this year from Yale University with a degree in political science, helped start an organization at Yale that provides mentors, tutors and summer stipends to make sure low-income students receive the same academic opportunities as others. Flowers also has examined gaps in Portland’s sanctuary city policy. After graduating, he returned to Portland to work in the field office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who said Flowers has worked on a variety of issues, including on how high costs of phone or video calls in prisons not only punish the inmates but make it harder for them to keep in touch with their families and thus to readjust to society when they’re released.
Calvin Runnels of Baton Rouge, La., is the second self-identified transgender Rhodes scholar from the U.S., following Pema McLaughlin, who was named a winner last year. A senior at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he has organized rallies in solidarity with the immigrant community and led efforts to increase the number of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. Runnels will study biochemistry at Oxford. His research investigates the origin of the ribosome, which could provide insight into the origins of life, the Rhodes Trust said.
Matthew Chun of Arlington, Va., the captain of MIT’s wrestling team, researches the impact of intellectual property law on innovation and has worked as a patent technology specialist. He leads a team designing the first prosthetic knee for use in the developing world.