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Show RHODES SCHOLARSHIP John Cecil Rhodes, founder of the Rhodes Scholarships, was Loin in England in 1853 and died in 1902. A lack of health look him to South Africa before his education was completed, ile soon amassed a great fortune in the diamond fields of Kim-bciiey Kim-bciiey and returned to England when he was twenty-three years, Luiitinued his education and was graduated from Oxford. Rhodes was a financier and statesman of large vision and rugged determination, and notwithstanding he died in his forty-ninth forty-ninth year, he had accomplished some major results, first among which was the establishment of these scolarships. In the year of his death, 1902, he set up a 5, 000,000 trust fund (now grown to $10,000,000) to bring annually sixty-eight young men from the Colonies and from the United States to attend at-tend Oxford College for three years, the purpose of which was io learn England and understand it. He sought, through this means, to maintain a close union of the English-speaking people of the world. The scholarship amounts to $1,500 pev year and the endowment provides for two students from each state of the - United States. In 1929 Parliament made a change and candidates are chosen from eight districts of six states each. These young men must be of good character and high scholarship; sch-olarship; they must be athletic and leaders, between the ages of 19 and 25. ' There are now 1,200 Rhodes Scholars in the United States and Canada. This plan has been in operation for thirty -one years, and for the first time a reunion of these men will be held at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia. There are at the present time 750,000 college and university students in the United States, so that education with us has become be-come a vast and expensive enterprise. The question arises, are not the ablest men neglected in -this education for all ? The Oxford Ox-ford plan gives the bright boy a better chance. They do not take courses but study subjects with their tutors, and on their own initiative go to lectures when they feel like it, getting their work up not in term time but during vacation. Commenting on this system ,Dr. Aydolette, president of Swarthmore, said, "Rh-o.Ies "Rh-o.Ies scholars go to Oxford full of United States punch. Oxford soothes and quiets them and sends them home to spread scholar-mess scholar-mess among their fellows." The candidates for these scholarships are selected with care and in most cases are above the average university student in the United States. Now, what are the results? The records show that no Rhodes' scholar has become president of the United States, a member of the. cabinet, governor of a state, or mayor of a great United States city. There are 20 Rhodes men in the federal sen-ice, 195 -in law; 40 per cent of them have become educators, eight are college presidents, 13 deans, one United States commissioner of education. The list includes a long line of distinguished scholars and administrators. A better percentage, percent-age, we estimate, of these men achieve distinction than among graduates from our own institutions. The bright boy suffers some in the mass plan of education. Bryant S. Hinckley, in Utah Farmer. o |
