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  • Washington University Senior Wins Rhodes Scholarship

    Washington University Senior Wins Rhodes Scholarship

    On Friday, senior Tori Harwell was standing in a room full of Rhodes Scholar finalists in Chicago, waiting for the announcement of the two names who would receive the grant. Harwell’s presence in that room required a significant amount of time, energy, and inspiration.

    Harwell, majoring in African and African American Studies and Environmental Analysis, learned about the scholarship via Robyn Hadley, previous Ervin Scholars director and Rhodes Scholar.

    “I think that just kind of sat in the back of my head. Like, ‘This Black woman can do it — there’s potential for me, too,’” Harwell said.

    Then, in the spring of her junior year, Harwell had to request eight reference letters from instructors and mentors, in addition to writing personal and academic statements.

    After that, Harwell needed to be endorsed by Washington University (another application) before officially applying to the national scholarship program.

    Finally, after being designated one of 12 candidates in District 12 (which encompasses Tennessee, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri), Harwell had to find a means to travel to Chicago for one final 20-minute interview. They chose to fly to the destination and then take the train back.

    Harwell’s scholarship honors Cecil Rhodes, the late 19th-century prime minister of the English Cape Colony (now South Africa).

    Rhodes exploited his political position to enact stricter voting regulations and expel many Black citizens from their property. At the end of his life, Rhodes established the Rhodes Scholarship, which enables male learners from current or former British colonies to study at Oxford.

    Harwell, who studied abroad in Cape Town during their junior year, witnessed the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign, which lobbied for the removal of the Cecil Rhodes statue on the University of Cape Town’s campus in 2015 and continues to raise awareness about institutional racism.

    This Rhodes legacy, however, did not prevent Harwell from pursuing the scholarship. Rather, the complex history surrounding Cecil Rhodes piqued her curiosity.

    “I think that’s what intrigues me,” Harwell remarked. “Many Washington University alumni who were Rhodes Scholars were Black Rhodes Scholars. And I kind of enjoy that subversive tradition.”

    Harwell has often pursued her curiosity. They spent a month in Ghana conducting cocoa growing research before moving to South Africa to study. Over the course of several months, Harwell tracked cocoa from local Ghanaian farmers to the Cadbury Chocolate Company in the United Kingdom. This past summer, they researched at the University of Birmingham, diving into dense primary records regarding Cadbury’s internal history.

    It was on that Friday in Chicago that Harwell discovered she would be traveling back to the UK: this time, for two years at Oxford University. Harwell expressed disbelief when her name was called as a winner. Then she called her father.

    “He was like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s cool,’” Harwell said, imitating his nonchalant response.

    After they wished the other finalists farewell, reality set in.

    “I ended up crying because it just seems so far beyond what both my living family and ancestors would have seen for me,” Harwell said.

    Harwell will fly to Oxford in September to pursue two degrees: one in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance, and the other in African Studies. Harwell is the 30th winner of Washington University’s scholarship, and the first since 2018.

    Harwell is looking forward to reconnecting with old friends as well as continuing her education. During her summer research in Birmingham, she joined a book club and became acquainted with local jazz performers.

    “I don’t play jazz,” she clarified. “I just like listening to it.”

    Harwell intends to spend most of her time in the area before heading to Oxford. They plan to acquire a job in St. Louis this summer so they may spend more time with their college classmates. Of course, they have New Year’s resolutions to keep. They actually make up an entire bingo board. The goal is not to complete all 25 tasks, but rather to get five-in-a-row bingo.

    To accomplish this, Harwell may learn to surf, spend a month without traveling, invite a stranger to lunch three times, travel around Asia, put on an art display, or approach an underclassman and become friends. And of course, graduate.

    Harwell is unsure about her future after completing her two-year tenure at Oxford. She suggested community-based work.

    “And, hopefully, take a break from school.”

  • How to Become a Rhodes Scholar

    How to Become a Rhodes Scholar

    The Rhodes scholarship attracts thousands of the best college applicants worldwide every year due to its esteemed reputation. However, only a small number of candidates who most exemplify academic brilliance, a dedication to helping others, and virtues like bravery and kindness are selected for the award, which enables them to attend the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, US News reveals.

    Being a Rhodes scholar has a certain cachet, but it’s not the only thing that encourages applicants.

    “It’s an honor that will be mentioned in every introduction to every speech they give for the rest of their life, and will be mentioned in their obituary decades from now,” Doug Cutchins, director of global awards at New York University Abu Dhabi, wrote in an email. “It means being connected to other extraordinary young people at Oxford for several years, and then being introduced into a global alumni community of amazing people who are working for the common good. It can open doors that they don’t even know exist right now.”

    What Is a Rhodes Scholarship?

    Cecil Rhodes, a British politician and businessman who established the scholarship in his will, is remembered by the Rhodes Trust, a British nonprofit that oversees the Rhodes scholarship. Oxford received its first scholars in 1903, making it the oldest international scholarship program.

    The Rhodes Trust conducts a rigorous application and interview process to choose about 100 students year from all across the world, including 32 Americans. The quantity of applications is kept a secret by the organization.

    The scholarship pays for tuition and fees for a minimum of two years of study at Oxford University, where recipients can pursue a master’s, doctoral, or second bachelor’s degree in a variety of fields.

    The award covers application fees; recipients must still apply for admission to Oxford. Along with these costs, the scholarship also pays for travel to and from the United Kingdom, a student visa, health insurance, and an annual living stipend (almost $25,000 for the 2023–2024 school year).

    The scholarship’s overall value fluctuates but can total up to $250,000, according to Rhodes Trust staff.

    The importance of a Rhodes scholarship, according to Eleanor Wikstrom, a senior at Harvard University in Massachusetts who was awarded one and will start studying at Oxford in the fall of 2024, extends beyond the opportunities it will present. She is majoring in social studies with a focus on colonialism, and she intends to attend Oxford to get a master’s degree in global and imperial history. One of the main draws of the scholarship, according to her, was the opportunity to study that era of British history among students from all around the world.

    “I also think that Rhodes offers this really amazing cohort that is not quite as prevalent with any other scholarship,” Wikstrom says. “Of course, you’re going to be part of an amazing legacy no matter what you do, but the Rhodes scholarship being expressly global and also having this locus at Oxford allows you to interact with scholars from other backgrounds, and it facilitates that much more fluently than the other scholarships would.”

    Who Can Apply for a Rhodes Scholarship?

    Countries have different requirements, but in the United States, applicants must be at least eighteen (18) years old and not older than twenty-four on October 1st of the year they are applying.

    Babette Littlemore, director of communications at the Rhodes Trust, states that older applicants who finished their undergraduate degree later than typical may apply up to age 27 in some cases. Additionally, candidates must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or above while completing or planning to complete an undergraduate degree from a college or university.

    The qualifications for U.S. students to be eligible for the award have been extended in recent years to include DACA recipients (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and legal permanent residents.

    The list of countries from which students can apply has expanded, as well. “With the arrival of the Global Rhodes Scholarships, individuals from any country across the globe are now able to apply,” Littlemore wrote in an email.

    Candidates are selected according on their “constituency,” which is the nation, state, or municipality in which they reside. The Rhodes Trust website states that applicants with dual citizenship or those who have lived abroad should select the nation with which they have the strongest ties, such as citizenship or length of residence.

    16 districts comprise the states and territories of the United States. The district that U.S. applicants usually select is the one where they have either resided permanently or have spent the most time.

    Who Should Apply for a Rhodes Scholarship?

    According to Arizona State University’s associate dean of national scholarship advisement, Kyle Mox, successful applicants usually have at least a 3.9 GPA because the applicant pool is so tough. Experts advise that having high academic credentials is only one component of the puzzle.

    Over the duration of its existence, the scholarship has mainly continued to support the same principles and attributes, such as leadership and public service. According to Mox, the selection committee is searching for candidates “that are going to provide value to the world.”

    “It is intensely service-driven,” he says. “Any students that I’ve worked with who have succeeded, progressed and have been offered the award were passionately motivated by a desire to serve the world. They were high-achieving but not for the sake of being high-achieving. They were high-achieving because they had things they wanted to fix. That’s got to come through in the application.”

    Because applicants must still apply to Oxford after being awarded the scholarship, the committee looks for well-rounded students who would be easily admissible, Cutchins says.

    “They have to have excelled in multiple areas, and at least ticked the box in most if not all of the major facets of student life: athletics, service, the arts, etc.,” he says. “Someone smarter than me once said that Rhodes scholars are ‘well rounded with a bump.’ They are good at everything, and exceptional in one or more dimensions.”

    He advises students to evaluate their own performance to see if they fit the requirements. Even though “the vast majority of students who apply for the Rhodes – 98%+ – are not going to win,” he nevertheless exhorts students who aren’t sure whether to apply.

    According to him, students can gain a great deal of experience from the application and interview processes as they start their careers.

    “I usually set a low bar, asking students if they are feasible, realistic, plausible candidates,” he says. “If a student wants to be a Rhodes scholar, then I think they should make someone else say no to them, rather than them saying no to their own goals.”

    Rhodes Scholarship Application Process

    To become a Rhodes scholar, students are typically encouraged to apply during their junior year of college, experts say. The online application opens in early July each year and closes in early October.

    Differentiating internal dates for various application checkpoints is a common practice across colleges. Even while it is expressly forbidden for applicants to get assistance with their personal essays, many institutions offer guidance on other parts of the application process, like interview preparation.

    1. Required Application Materials

    Cutchins notes that although certain aspects of the application remain the same for each constituency, there are differences in certain specifics. A 350-word academic statement and a 750-word original personal statement are required by all screening panels. A complete CV, an official transcript, and five to eight recommendation letters are also required of applicants.

    “All constituencies ask that some of the letters are written by people who can comment on the student’s academic ability and others serve as character references,” he says. “Some constituencies detail the exact number of each kind of letter that should be submitted.”

    The personal essay should be an incredibly strong and original piece of writing, experts say.

    2. University Endorsement

    Applicants must first be recommended and approved by their university in order to be eligible for the scholarship. Subsequently, candidates face competition from others in their district or constituency.

    Many institutions set up a nomination committee during the endorsement stage, and according to Mox, this committee usually consists of staff, faculty, and alumni of Rhodes scholars if at all possible.

    The university issues a letter of recommendation for each student who is nominated, which is signed by the president or a senior dean. If the student is an undergraduate, this recommendation should include a declaration that the student has met or will meet the criteria for a bachelor’s degree in the year after the application is submitted.

    3. National Round and Interviews

    Each district committee will then choose a maximum of two winners based on the shortlisted candidates’ attendance at a district reception and interview in November.

    According to Wikstrom, she was informed that she had been chosen for an interview about two weeks ago. During that time, a number of Harvard fellowship advisers convened a simulated reception and performed tough mock interviews.

    It’s important to prepare for the reception even though it’s not a formal component of the selection process. According to Wikstrom, “if you say something during that reception, it is fair game during the interview.”

    The Importance of Being Authentic

    While planning is necessary, experts advise that authenticity is valued by the selecting committee. During the mock interviews, Wikstrom claims to have received advice to be less “canned” and to express her true self more. In the final days before the interview, she read aloud from her favorite novels, compositions, and essays from class.

    “I wanted to steep myself in those materials that meant a lot to me and were really formative for the way I thought about things. There’s nothing that you can do in that last week or last two weeks that will save you. There’s no new fact you’re going to learn. There’s no new method that’s going to save you. You are the sum of everything you’ve done up to that point. You just kind of have to trust the muscle memory will be there when you need it to be there.” – Eleanor Wikstrom, Harvard University Class of 2024, Rhodes scholar

  • Public Health Researcher, GianGrasso, Receives Rhodes Scholarship

    Public Health Researcher, GianGrasso, Receives Rhodes Scholarship

    Grant GianGrasso, a trumpeter who also dabbles in stand-up comedy, aims to combat infectious disease. The Rhodes Scholarship Trust, a fully financed postgraduate scholarship, is assisting him in his pursuit of a doctorate at the University of Oxford.

    GianGrasso, from Clarence, New York, graduated in three years from the University of Virginia in 2023 with a double major in human biology and French and is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health at UVA’s School of Medicine. He intends to finish that degree in 2024 and then return to Oxford in the fall to pursue a doctorate in clinical medicine.GianGrasso is the 56th Rhodes Scholar at UVA, the top Rhodes producing public university in the country, and one of 32 Americans chosen for the program.

    “I would really like  to help reduce our world’s significant health inequities and make a career of serving others,” GianGrasso said. “It’s a fact that most people don’t feel safe from all sorts of infectious diseases and experience a lack of health care access. Illnesses that don’t impact any of us in high-income countries often mean serious disability or death for small children in less wealthy regions.

    “If it’s preventable, it’s unacceptable.”

    GianGrasso interned at the lab of Chelsea Marie Braun, an associate professor of medicine whose research focuses on infectious diseases and global health.

    “I study cryptosporidium, a diarrheal parasite that has a big impact on children in low- and middle-income countries,” he said. “My undergraduate thesis had to do with how a certain human protein might play a role in infection. It’s a leading killer of infants and young children, but unfortunately, this age group has no vaccine and few therapeutics available to treat the disease.”

    According to GianGrasso, while wealthier countries have improved their ability to combat these illnesses, low- and middle-income countries are frequently left behind. GianGrasso aspires to be a medical doctor as well as a researcher, a career that will allow him to become an expert in treating diseases while also studying their remedies.

    Braun described GianGrasso as having “integrity” and “kindness.”

    “Grant pursues excellence with the highest degree of integrity,” Braun said. “I have never seen him try to cut a corner, whether in a boring data analysis or in an arduous experiment. Grant is methodical and ensures his work is of the highest rigor and quality.

    “He is also exceptionally kind. He brings birthday cards for other lab members; he is generous with compliments and cares for his colleagues.”

    Braun said GianGrasso “will be an extraordinary ambassador for the U.S. at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He will represent UVA and our nation wonderfully.”

    GianGrasso believes his language proficiency will help him communicate more effectively with his patients. He majored in French, minored in Spanish, and obtained a Critical Language Scholarship to study Bengali, the world’s sixth most spoken language, in Kolkata, India.

    “My lab work has been in partnership with the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and we frequently exchange personnel with them on visits,” said GianGrasso, whose love of language stems from his mother, a French teacher. He served as the resident adviser of La Maison Française, the University’s French House, and studied in France last summer.

    “My Spanish improved significantly during UVA’s Valencia Program the summer after my first year, and I later used it a lot on a trip to the Dominican Republic with UVA’s Global Medical Training club,” he said. “Spanish also helps significantly during my volunteer work as a firefighter/EMT in Charlottesville, where I have to interpret for many Spanish-speaking patients in emergencies.”

    “Grant’s work is at the level of a senior graduate student, so advanced is his thinking,” said Dr. William Petri, chief of UVA’s Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health. “He is rigorous as well as creative in his thinking, anticipates alternative hypotheses, works exceedingly well in a team with graduate and postdoctoral fellows, and is highly productive through a combination of a profound ability to work hard and manage time.

    “He is also one of the kindest and most personable individuals that one could hope to know.”

    GianGrasso came to UVA as a Jefferson Scholar and a College Science Scholar, the latter of which is designed to provide each student with particular attention and direct connection with research staff. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Virginia Medical Review, an online student scientific and medical newspaper that attempts to highlight new breakthroughs in science and medicine to a broad audience. He is a National Merit Scholar and a U.S. Presidential Scholar.

    GianGrasso, while very scientific in his academic studies, has an artistic side. He is the main trumpeter for the UVA Jazz Ensemble, directed by John D’earth, with whom he studies, and has performed in occasional duets with Petri at the Olivet Presbyterian Church.

    “Grant is also a beautiful trumpet player,” Petri said. “He is as extraordinary a musician as he is a scientist.”

    “I’m getting much better at finding my own voice and improvising,” he said. “I play my dad’s trumpet that he played in his college jazz band, and which he bought with money from his paper route in high school, so that connection means a lot to me.”

    Pursuing music, GianGrasso said helps keep him balanced.

    “Jazz helps me take a break from the rigidity of everyday responsibilities and let loose,” he noted. “When I’m in rehearsal, it takes my mind off everything else, and the band becomes singularly focused on the music. But while jazz can sound fluid, the music is very deliberately structured. It takes a lot of talent and drive to get good at, and I have a long road ahead.”

    GianGrasso also performs as a stand-up comic.

    “I truly enjoy how injecting humor and levity into difficult situations, and always being able to laugh at yourself can make hard times a bit easier,” he said. “My first crack at stand-up came in February 2022, when I entered UVA’s Comedy Knight competition and ended up winning. Since then, I’ve been invited to perform sets at different gigs like parties, and I’ve written and delivered 10 sets so far.

    “I’ve been told I have a lot of energy when I perform and that I engage with the audience a lot. I like hearing that, because making people laugh feels like one of the most empowering things you can do.”

    “Grant is one of the humblest students with whom I have been able to work,” Andrus G. Ashoo, director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, said. “He is always eager to learn and genuinely loves interacting with people distinctly different from himself. Those qualities make him a very effective servant, in addition to being a delight to be around. I am really excited to see how he grows as a Rhodes Scholar.”

    The comedy sets, the jazz sessions and the biology studies have put GianGrasso in some interesting company, which is exactly where he wants to be.

    “I like hanging around people who are hard-working, but don’t forget to keep a positive attitude and love what they do,” he said.

  • Madelyn Letendre Wins Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship

    Madelyn Letendre Wins Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship

    The names of the 32 Americans chosen as Rhodes Scholars, including C1C Madelyn Letendre, were announced over the weekend by Ramona L. Doyle, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust.

    Letendre, a member of the Air Force women’s swim team, will attend Oxford University to pursue an M.Sc. in Therapeutic and Translational Neuroscience as well as a Master of Public Policy.

    “I am so excited and honored to receive this scholarship,” said Letendre. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me to expand my understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through the lenses of neuroscience and policy. I hope to use the academic experience I gain at Oxford to improve mental health policies within the Air Force.”

    Letendre, a biochemistry major, has conducted research on disability support services in the military, getting a Stamps Scholarship to finance her research and winning the USAFA Humanities Division Research Award.

    Dr. Doyle described this year’s class: “This year’s Rhodes Scholars representing the United States–elected by 16 independent committees around the country meeting simultaneously– will go to Oxford University in England in October 2024 to pursue graduate degrees across the breadth of the social sciences, humanities, and biological and physical sciences. They inspire us already with their accomplishments, but even more by their values-based leadership and selfless ambitions to improve their communities and the world.”

    Rhodes Scholarships cover all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford, which is ranked first in the world in certain worldwide rankings, and may provide financing for up to four years in some cases. Dr. Doyle called the Rhodes Scholarships, “the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates.”

    The Scholarships were established in 1902 by Cecil Rhodes’ Will and are granted in collaboration with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C., and The Atlantic Philanthropies, as well as many other generous benefactors. The first cohort of American Rhodes Scholars arrived at Oxford in 1904; those chosen today will arrive in October 2024.

    Rhodes Scholars are selected in two stages. First, applicants must receive approval from their college or university. This year, over 2,500 students began the application process, with 862 receiving approval from 249 different colleges and universities. The strongest applicants are then invited to appear before Selection Committees in each of the 16 U.S. districts for interviews. All districts interviewed at least 14 finalists.

    American Secretary Doyle explained that applicants are chosen on the basis of the criteria set down in the Will of Cecil Rhodes. “These criteria include first and fundamentally, academic excellence. This is a critical but only threshold condition. A Rhodes Scholar should also have great ambition for social impact, and an uncommon ability to work with others to achieve one’s goals. They should be committed to make a strong difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be acutely conscious of inequities.”

    Dr. Doyle added that “although the Trust strives for the most inclusive application pool possible through outreach and other efforts, consideration of balance or diversity are not factors in selection at either the national or district level.” And finally, she said, “a Rhodes Scholar should show great promise of leadership. In short, we seek outstanding young people of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service. These basic characteristics are directed at fulfilling Mr. Rhodes’s hopes that the Rhodes Scholars would make an important and positive contribution throughout the world. In Rhodes’s words, his Scholars should ‘esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim.’”

    The 32 Rhodes Scholars selected from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from 25 other jurisdictions (more than 70 nations) around the world, as well as two Scholars from any country in the world that does not have its own Scholarship for the fifth year.

    This year, over a hundred Rhodes Scholars will be chosen internationally, including individuals who attended American colleges and universities but are not US citizens and applied through their native country.

    Following the announcement of the results today, 3,642 Americans have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships, representing 327 schools and universities. Women have been permitted to apply since 1976, and 663 American women have now won the coveted award. More than 2,000 American Rhodes Scholars live throughout the United States and abroad.

  • Princeton Senior Sam Harshbarger Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

    Princeton Senior Sam Harshbarger Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

    Sam Harshbarger, a senior at Princeton University, has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the University of Oxford.

    Harshbarger is one of 32 Americans to receive the renowned fellowships, which cover two to three years of graduate study at Oxford. In a statement, Ramona I. Doyle, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said of this year’s Rhodes Scholars, “They inspire us already with their accomplishments, but even more by their values-based leadership and selfless ambitions to improve their communities and the world.”

    Over 70 different countries compete for Rhodes Scholarships. Individual countries choose their receivers according to their own schedules.

    Harshbarger, of Cranbury, New Jersey, is majoring in history and minoring in history and diplomacy, Near Eastern studies, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies. He plans to pursue an MPhil in history at Oxford.In October, he will begin his studies there.

    He is a member of the Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows, an organization of juniors and seniors interested in humanistic research. He is also a Center for International Security Studies student fellow and an undergraduate fellow of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

    Harshbarger is fluent in Spanish and Turkish, as well as Azerbaijani and Russian. He claimed his senior thesis, tentatively titled “Between Cold War and Decolonization: Turkey and Post-Colonial Afro-Asia, 1951-1960,” examines Turkey’s participation in the Bandung Conference in 1955 and its interaction with anti-colonial nationalists in North Africa. He is a fellow of the Lawrence Stone and Shelby Cullom Davis Thesis Prize.

    “Sam is a once-in-a-generation academic talent,” said Natasha Wheatley, assistant professor of history, who met Harshbarger when he took her “History of International Order” course in spring 2021. “His exceptional academic work is fueled by a boundless curiosity, an expansive humanist ethos and deep moral engagement in the contemporary world.”

    Wheatley advised Harshbarger’s thesis this summer until she went on maternity leave this fall. His current mentor is Michael Laffan, the Paula Chow Professor of International and Regional Studies and history professor.

    “Reading Sam’s work, one often forgets that one is reading a student — let alone an undergraduate student,” Wheatley said. “Indeed, Sam has been doing graduate level work for quite some time. His multilingualism corresponds to a profoundly cosmopolitan outlook: to a highly unusual degree, Sam can truly see the world from many different perspectives.”

    Harshbarger became interested in Turkey while participating in exchange programs in Russia in high school because of its proximity to the former Soviet Union across the Black Sea and the Middle East to the south. Prior to beginning at Princeton, he spent a gap year as a policy fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), working from Turkey on SETF’s cross-border humanitarian aid to towns in northwestern Syria.

    Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, classes at Princeton were still out of reach for Harshbarger when he began his studies there in the fall of 2020. He purchased a one-way ticket back to Istanbul, unsure of when he would return to Princeton. His days began at 8 a.m. with a three-hour group Turkish language session, followed by afternoons spent continuing his job with SETF as director of Congressional strategy — and, due to the time difference, evening Princeton classes and coursework into the early hours of the morning.

    His interest in how geopolitics, history, and journalism intersected, he wrote in his personal statement for his Rhodes application, as the Azerbaijani Army marched into the Armenian-held region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sept. 27, that fall. “I resolved then to study history with an eye towards unraveling the nationalism and historical memory that lay behind this violence,” he writes in his book.

    Harshbarger took a survey course on the history and cultures of the Caucasus from Istanbul that fall, taught by Michael Reynolds, associate professor of Near Eastern Studies and co-director of the Program in the History and Practice of Diplomacy, who was also teaching remotely from Istanbul.

    “Although just a first-year student, Sam tackled the assignments like a graduate student, reading with the intent not just of assimilating unfamiliar facts but to uncover the logics shaping the authors’ narratives,” said Reynolds, who was Harshbarger’s adviser on his junior paper.

    “Sam combines a first-rank intellect with a true zeal for exploring and understanding the societies and cultures of greater Eurasia and the Middle East,” Reynolds said. “He is a quiet but driven, energetic, independent and entrepreneurial young man who will leave a mark on the world.”

    Harshbarger spent the spring semester of his first year in Turkey. He began to consider a career in journalism and think tank research while producing an audio documentary on the politics of Syrian refugees in Turkey for a course in the Humanities Council’s Program in Journalism taught by NPR’s then-Athens correspondent Joanna Kakissis.

    Throughout his stay at Princeton, Harshbarger used Istanbul as his home base for research in the region, returning every summer and winter break. As an international policy associate with Princeton’s Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, he has implemented his views from these experiences on campus.

    In September 2022, he was awarded the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence. He is a student at Forbes College.

    Outside of academia, he works as a researcher on Turkish foreign policy at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank in Philadelphia. He has also worked as an international affairs research analyst for Bechtel, an international construction and engineering corporation; as a research assistant for the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank; and for the Evergreen Strategy Group.

    When Harshbarger learned of his Rhodes Scholarship, he was in New York City. After three years of digitally selecting American Rhodes Scholars, interviews with candidates took place in person this year.

    Upon learning he had won, Harshbarger said: “I was in a state of disbelief. I called my family as soon as I got the chance.”

    About going to Oxford, he said: “I’m so excited to meet my classmates and learn from world-class faculty, such as Professor Zbig Wojnowski, who focuses on the history of Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia.”

    Harshbarger plans to return to Istanbul after his Rhodes studies to pursue a career in the transnational politics of conflict across Eurasia, either as a journalist or with a think tank.

  • Azeem Khan Achieves Major Milestone as Rhodes Scholarship Finalist

    Azeem Khan Achieves Major Milestone as Rhodes Scholarship Finalist

    Azeem Khan, a West Virginia University student, is a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious international awards.

    The native of Charleston is a political science major with minors in business cybersecurity and philosophy. He was designated the University’s 26th Truman Scholar earlier this year.

    “I am honored and humbled to receive the opportunity to compete for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Khan said. “The Rhodes Trust has an extremely challenging application process, which I have found very rewarding every step of the way. I have no doubt, regardless of the outcome this weekend, this next step will be equally fulfilling.”

    Khan will be interviewed by the Rhodes District 11 Selection Committee in Detroit on November 10 and 11. The scholarship is for two years of postgraduate study at Oxford University in England.

    “Azeem truly embodies the Rhodes Scholarship selection criteria, including academic excellence, an ability to lead others, and a desire to make positive changes in the world,” Amy Cyphert, director of the ASPIRE Office, said. “He is a shining example of what can be accomplished through hard work, service to others and fully embracing the opportunities available at WVU.”

    If selected, Khan intends to pursue a Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice as well as a Master of Public Policy.

    “This would not be possible without the incredible support of my family, friends and mentors,” Khan said. “I am touched by the outpouring of encouragement and help I continue to receive from Mountaineers and West Virginians across our state and country. I will do my best to make our university and state proud this weekend in Detroit.”

    The Honors College student has served in a variety of leadership positions on campus. He is a member of the Presidential Student Ambassadors and the Mountaineer Fentanyl Task Force. He previously served as the Student Government Association’s president pro tempore and senator-at-large.

    In addition to his role as a student leader, Khan works as a government relations intern for the WVU Office of Government Relations, where he collaborates with faculty, legislators, cybersecurity, economic, and business experts to develop and implement a strategic plan to advance cybersecurity-related economic development efforts across the state.

    Yoav Kaddar, professor of dance and faculty adviser for the Rhodes Scholarship, and the ASPIRE Office, which assists students in pursuing national honors, provided assistance with the application.

    Every year, 32 American students are chosen from among more than 100 Rhodes Scholars worldwide, based on academic excellence, commitment to service, ambition for social impact, and leadership potential.