By Frederick M. Hess | Joe Pitts
American Enterprise Institute
May 06, 2024
Key Points
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Introduction
In the fall of 2024, the Harvard Gazette profiled the university’s 10 2024 Rhodes Scholars.1 One will study “counseling patients on abortion.” Another will explore how US involvement in the Philippines relates to “settler colonialism on the North American continent.” A third, citing his interest in Islamic and Marxist thought, asks “how progressive political messaging can intersect with local and religious epistemologies.” Not one winner espoused even fleeting interest in an issue typically regarded as right leaning.
The ideological uniformity of the winners struck a chord, given that many observers tend to think of the Rhodes program as relatively apolitical. After all, the Rhodes scholarship and its US government–funded counterpart, the Truman scholarship, have long served as prestigious launching pads into our nation’s political, social, and economic elite. That’s a big reason why public colleges and universities devote time and resources to supporting student applications and celebrating their scholarship winners.
Uncle Sam and tax-exempt foundations support a handful of elite fellowship programs that permit selected students to pursue graduate studies at minimal cost. These programs give winners a big boost toward positions of influence in government, business, law, and public life. Moreover, they do so while working closely with publicly supported colleges and universities, enjoying a public endorsement, and frequently using public funds—making them very much a public concern.
The Truman and Rhodes Scholarships in particular are among the best known and most celebrated graduate fellowships in the world, boasting a long list of esteemed scholars, legislators, and even heads of state.2 Alumni comprise a mix of prominent public figures, including former President Bill Clinton, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.3 Given the importance of cultivating civic leaders who will represent the whole of the nation, these programs should seek to promote scholar cohorts with that diversity in mind.
Recent events raise questions as to whether these programs are living up to their role as inclusive, public-spirited enterprises. Following Hamas’s terrorist attacks on Israel in October 2023, over 2,000 recipients of elite graduate scholarships (describing themselves as “leaders in [their] diverse fields”) issued a letter accusing Israel of genocide and urging the Biden administration to deny the Israeli government support for counterterrorism efforts.4 The signatories included 58 American Rhodes Scholars from the past five years and 56 Truman Scholars from the past three.5 This group represents a third of the nation’s Truman and Rhodes scholars from that period. No such statement in defense of Israel was issued.
Given this context, it’s worth looking at how effectively these prestigious programs are cultivating future leaders with a diverse range of interests, views, and values.
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Notes
1. Christy DeSmith and Nikki Rojas, “10 Seniors Win Rhodes Scholarships, Plan to Work on Neuroscience and Climate Change, Reproductive Legislation and International Medicine,” Harvard Gazette, November 17, 2023, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/11/10-harvard-rhodes-scholars-describe-oxford-pursuits.
2. In this analysis, we specifically chose to analyze the Rhodes and Truman Scholarships because they represent two categories of graduate fellowships: national and international scholarships. They are considered by university administrators and academics as among the most prestigious of each class of fellowship.
3. Cole Claybourn, “Famous Rhodes Scholars,” US News & World Report, January 11, 2024, https://www.usnews.com/education/slideshows/famous-rhodes-scholars.
4. US Scholarship Coalition, “Joint Statement Calling for an End to the Siege and Bombardment of Gaza,” Medium, October 20, 2023, https://medium.com/@scholarscoalition/joint-statement-calling-for-an-end-to-the-siege-and-bombardment-of-gaza-96cd2b5cd690.
5. This calculation assumes that Rhodes Scholar signatories who listed themselves as “anonymous” were nominated from within the US constituency.
