For the first time since 1992, no Duke students or alumni were awarded Rhodes Scholarships this year. The prestigious scholarship, which allows college graduates from across the world to study at the University of Oxford for two or three years, is granted to 32 American students annually.
For the first time since 1992, no Duke students or alumni were awarded Rhodes Scholarships this year. The prestigious scholarship, which allows college graduates from across the world to study at the University of Oxford for two or three years, is granted to 32 American students annually.
Although the University did not claim any Rhodes Scholars when the winners were announced Sunday, nine students were interviewed by their states' Rhodes committees.
Seven Duke seniors and alumni have been awarded the scholarship in the past three years, but Professor of History Peter Wood said this year's drop-off is not emblematic of any larger trend.
"I don't think it's indicative of anything at all," said Wood, who chairs the University's Rhodes Advisory Committee. "[The scholarship] is extremely rarefied, to the point of being impossible. If there were 200 of them, I'd expect Duke would have several every year. But with 32, this is... the way it goes."
The Rhodes application process begins in the fall, when interested students notify the University of their plans. The Duke committee then writes a letter of endorsement and helps each student prepare for interviews.
Candidates are selected and then interviewed--either in North Carolina or their home states--by the state committee. The committee sends several students to the final, regional round. At this level, each region selects four Rhodes Scholars. "It's a very decentralized process," Wood said.
Candidates interviewed by their states faced a committee comprised of Rhodes Scholars from that state who conducted lengthy discussions with each student.
"They examined our graduate proposals and really attempted to get at peoples' motives for applying," said senior Anthony Vitarelli, who interviewed in his home state of New Jersey. "It was the most equitable and professional interview process I've ever dealt with."
Senior Philip Kurian, who applied in South Carolina, was surprised by the variety of the Scholars that interviewed him. "There were some people who were really stuffy, and some who were real straight shooters," said Kurian, who is also a columnist for The Chronicle. "It's kind of a weird experience.... There's an element of luck and flipping a coin to it."
Harvard University dominated the Rhodes rolls, with six students receiving scholarships. The United States Naval Academy had three, and four other schools had two scholars each. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University each had one.
In previous years, the University's Angier B. Duke Scholars have produced many Rhodes Scholars--five since 2001. This is the second consecutive class of A.B. Dukes that has not produced a Rhodes Scholar.
Wood congratulated each of the University's finalists and said the lack of any Rhodes Scholars in the group did not reflect on them.
"Obviously, it's very good when we get one," Wood said. "But these things go up and down."
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