32 Rhodes Scholars Announced
This year's 32 Rhodes scholars were awarded this weekend—a group that includes three varsity athletes and two students from schools that are new to the honor, one of the most prestigious academic awards, which enables the selected students to study at Oxford for two or three years.
The athletes include Florida State starting safety Myron Rolle, who completed his undergraduate degree in 2½ years, as well as two athletes from UCLA.
Brian Krohn and Noelle Lopez attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis and California's Santa Clara University, respectively—both schools that had not produced Rhodes scholars previously.
Princeton University had three scholars this year, the most of any school. Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, and UCLA had two scholars each.
You can read more student newspaper profiles of scholars from Michigan, Yale, Brown, Duke, and Columbia.
Tags: Harvard University | colleges | UCLA | Florida State University | MIT | Princeton | Northwestern University | college athletics
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (9) | Print
Reader Comments
athletes
These scholarships were intended for student-athletes per Cecil Rhodes...
'Cecil J. Rhodes, who endowed these scholarships, believed that the last of these qualities was best tested through participation and success in sports. Participation in varsity sports is not essential if applicants are able to demonstrate in other ways the physical vigor that will enable Rhodes Scholars to make an effective contribution to the world around them.'
So, obviously, it matters to the selection committee and it mattered to the man who endowed the entire thing. All of those who received a scholarship are to be commended, but a varsity sport at a division one level requires committment above and beyond just about any other extracurricular activity due to practice and travel time.
Fate is worse than death!
It is difficult and unreaslitc to select top candidtates from the thousands of applicants. Besides, such a tag of honor on the student who is accepted does not have the merit of distinction from acceptance to many good universities. I was accepted at Oxford-to drop out from the first two weeks-but attend and graduate from Cambridge. I also had some postdoctoral studies at Harvard. I did necessarily learn more, nor did I face more competition than the modest, not so prestigious university I attended in Michigan. Is n't it a time to focus on the student more than on the U.?
Drake University's Lindsay Whorton is a First-Team All American
The short Alison Go piece here leaves out much that is important about the Rhodes Scholarship and this year's recipients. (Readers may google "2008 Rhodes Scholars" for a complete list of the 32 recipients.)
Since the piece here keys on the current crop of selected Scholars who are also varsity athletes, a significant omission is Ms. Lindsay Whorton of Drake University in Des Moines, who was a first team Academic All-American last season and Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2008, representing all sports. She was first-team All MVC last season and the previous year -- when Drake overcame injuries and adversity to advance to the NCAA tournament after having a regular season conference record of 5-13 -- she was MVP of the conference tournament. Three of the four teams on which she played advanced to post-season competition with Lindsay's leadership playing a key role as the Amy Stephens-coached teams won a total of 68 games during that time.
A native of Independence, MO, and four-year starter for the Drake Bulldogs, Lindsay holds the Drake career record for 3-point goals (266) and ranks third in career 3-pointers in the Missouri Valley Conference. Her 1,564 points put Lindsay 13th in Drake career scoring.
During Lindsay's years at Drake, during which time she compiled a perfect 4.0 average in English and secondary education and was active in various leadership activities, she has been a much sought-after public speaker. This past summer she worked in youth ministry in West Des Moines and took students to help at a South Dakota reservation for Native Americans. She is currently finishing her Drake degree by completing her student teaching at Valley high school in West Des Moines, where she is described as "innovative, engaging and one in a million."
advertisement
