Page 8 The Skanner November 22, 2017
News
10 African Americans Named Rhodes Scholars
By Gene Johnson
Associated Press
T
he latest group of
U.S. Rhodes schol-
ars includes 10 Af-
rican Americans —
the most ever in a single
Rhodes class — as well
as a transgender man
and four students from
colleges that had never
had received the honor
before.
The Rhodes Trust
on Sunday announced
the 32 men and women
chosen for post-grad-
uate studies at Oxford
University in England.
Among them: the fi rst
black woman to lead the
Corps of Cadets at West
Point; a wrestler at the
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology who’s
helping develop a pros-
thetic knee for use in the
developing world; and
a Portland man who has
studied gaps in his home-
town’s “sanctuary city”
policy protecting immi-
grants in the country il-
legally from deportation.
“This year’s selections
— independently elected
by 16 committees around
the country meeting si-
multaneously — refl ects
the rich diversity of
America,” Elliot F. Ger-
son, American secretary
of the Rhodes Trust, said
in a news release an-
nouncing the winners
Sunday.
“They plan to study
a wide range of fi elds
across the social scienc-
es, biological and medi-
cal sciences, physical sci-
ences and mathematics,
and the humanities.”
The scholarships, con-
sidered by many to be the
most prestigious avail-
able to American stu-
dents, cover all expenses
for two or three years of
study starting next Octo-
ber.
In some cases, the
scholarships may allow
funding for four years.
The winners came from
a group of 866 applicants
“
the fi rst black woman to
serve as fi rst captain of
the 4,400-member Corps
of Cadets at the U.S. Mil-
itary Academy — the
highest position in the
cadet chain of command
at West Point. Askew,
a senior, is majoring in
international
history,
focused her undergrad-
uate thesis on the use of
rape as a tool of genocide
and plans to study evi-
dence-based social inter-
vention at Oxford.
Her mother told report-
ers over the summer:
“That leadership is some-
This year’s selections —
independently elected by
16 committees around the
country meeting simulta-
neously — refl ects the rich
diversity of America
who were endorsed by
299 colleges and univer-
sities. Four of the institu-
tions had winners for the
fi rst time: Hunter College
at the City University of
New York; Temple Uni-
versity in Philadelphia;
the University of Alaska
in Anchorage; and the
University of Maryland,
Baltimore County.
The 10 African Amer-
icans in the class in-
clude Simone Askew, of
Fairfax, Virginia, who
made headlines in Au-
gust when she became
thing I’ve seen through-
out her life — wanting to
be fi rst, wanting to be the
best, wanting to win, in
sports, in academics, in
every aspect of her life.
... And to serve others, as
well.”
Several of the winners
have devoted eff orts to
racial, social and eco-
nomic justice.
Harvard College senior
Tania N. Fabo, of Saugus,
Massachusetts, created
and codirected the fi rst
Black Health Matters
Conference at the univer-
AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW, FILE
The newly named group, which includes the highest
number of African Americans ever in a single class,
also includes a trangender man
In this Aug. 14 fi le photo, Cadet Simone Askew, of Fairfax, Va., who has been selected fi rst captain of the
U.S. Military Academy Corps of Cadets for the upcoming academic year, answers questions during a news
conference, in West Point, NY. Askew earned another prestigious honor Nov. 19, when she was one of 32
Americans awarded Rhodes scholarships to study at Oxford University in England.
sity. An immigrant who
was born in Germany to
Cameroonian parents,
she plans to research on-
cology 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 fi rst winner from
the University of Alaska
Anchorage, is an Aleut
woman who was born in
a remote village before
her parents brought her
to Anchorage for better
educational opportuni-
ties. She studies political
theory from an indige-
nous and feminist per-
spective.
Thamara V. Jean, of
Brooklyn, New York,
completed her senior
thesis at Hunter College
of the City University of
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Jean is a child of Haitian
immigrants, according to
Debbie Raskin, a spokes-
woman for Hunter Col-
lege.
Yale graduate and Port-
lander JaVaughn T. “J.T.”
Flowers (see sidebar),
who graduated this year
from Yale University
with a degree in political
science, was also named
among the scholars.
“He’s just an outstand-
ing candidate for the
Rhodes,” Rep. Earl Blu-
menauer, Flowers’ cur-
rent supervisor, said
Sunday.
“He’s a very quick
study, very good with
people, an incisive listen-
er who is able to translate
that back to people who
contact him and to the
staff in our offi ce. We’re
excited for him, and
we’re excited for what
he’s going to do when he’s
back.”
Calvin Runnels, of Ba-
ton Rouge, Louisiana, is
the second self-identi-
fi ed transgender Rhodes
scholar from the U.S., fol-
lowing Pema McLaugh-
lin, who was named a
winner last year.
A senior at the Georgia
Institute of Technology,
he has organized rallies
in solidarity with the im-
migrant community and
led eff orts to increase the
number of gender-neu-
tral bathrooms on cam-
pus.
Runnels will study bio-
chemistry at Oxford. His
research investigates the
origin of the ribosome,
which could provide in-
sight into the origins of
life, the Rhodes Trust
said.
Matthew Chun, of Ar-
lington, Virginia, the
captain of MIT’s wres-
tling team, researches
the impact of intellectual
property law on innova-
tion and has worked as
a patent technology spe-
cialist.
He leads a team design-
Portland
Man Among
Current Class
of Rhodes
Scholars
JaVaughn T.
“JT” Flowers,
24, Portland,
learned this
week he had
received
a Rhodes Scholarship to
study at Oxford University
in England.
Flowers grew up in
Northeast Portland and is a
graduate of Yale University
and Lincoln High School.
At Yale he founded an
organization called A Leg
Even to off er social support
to low-income Yale students.
Last year, Flowers won
a Truman Scholarship to
support graduate school
studies for students
preparing for careers in
government or public
service. Flowers’ Yale thesis
is on gaps in Portland’s
sanctuary city policy for
undocumented immigrants.
Last summer Flowers moved
back to Portland to work in
Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s local
fi eld offi ce.
ing the fi rst prosthetic
knee for use in the devel-
oping world.
He plans to study juris-
prudence at Oxford.
Also selected was an
international group of
scholars
representing
64 diff erent countries.
About 100 scholars will
be selected worldwide
this year.
The scholarships are
worth about $68,000 per
year, according to the
Rhodes Trust.
The fi rst class of Amer-
ican Rhodes Scholars en-
tered Oxford in 1904.
Associated Press writer
Crystal Hill in Boston con-
tributed to this report.