Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship, named for the British mining magnate and South African politician Cecil John Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious scholarships. Established in 1902, it was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, inspiring the creation of a great many other awards in other countries.

As elaborated on in his will, Cecil Rhodes' goals in creating the Rhodes Scholarships were to promote civic-minded leadership among "young colonists" with "moral force of character and instincts to lead", for "the furtherance of the British Empire, for the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire." With the scholarships, he "aimed at making Oxford University the educational centre of the English-speaking race." Since its creation, controversy has surrounded both its former exclusion of women (thus leading to the establishment of the co-educational Marshall Scholarship), and Rhodes' Anglo-supremacist beliefs and legacy of colonialism.

As of 2016, there have been 7,776 scholars since the programme's inception. More than 4,700 are still living.

The Rhodes Scholarships are administered and awarded by the Rhodes Trust, which was established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of Cecil John Rhodes, and funded by his legacy. The Trust has been modified by three Acts of Parliament: The Rhodes Estate Act 1916, the Rhodes Trust Act 1929, The Rhodes Trust Act 1946; and most recently by The Rhodes Trust (Modification) Order 1976, a statutory instrument in accordance with Section 78 (4) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Rhodes' motivation in establishing the scholarship is reflected in his will. Writing in 1902, W. T. Stead noted that it "[revealed] him to the world as the first distinguished British statesman whose Imperialism was that of Race and not that of Empire." With the scholarships, he "aimed at making Oxford University the educational centre of the English-speaking race." Rhodes, who attended Oriel College, Oxford, chose his alma mater as the site of his great experiment because he believed its residential colleges would be a "great advantage" to "young Colonists" for "giving breadth to their views for instruction in life and manners and for instilling into their minds the advantage to the Colonies as well as to the United Kingdom of the retention of the unity of the Empire." With this motivation in mind, the legacy originally provided for scholarships for the British colonies, the United States and Germany. These three were chosen because it was thought that "a good understanding between England, Germany and the United States of America will secure the peace of the world". As he developed the idea for the scholarship, Rhodes wrote that his dream was "the furtherance of the British Empire, for the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire."

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