Since being selected as a Rhodes Scholar in 1989, which was a life-changing event for me, I have been deeply involved with the Rhodes Scholarships. The Rhodes Trust’s slogan, ‘Fighting the World’s Fights,’ exemplifies the unique mission and powerful set of values shared by Rhodes Scholars.
In 2022, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Rhodes Scholarship in India. Our community of Rhodes Scholars from India agreed to use this anniversary as a springboard to expand the Scholarships and bring even more talented Indian students into the Rhodes family.
Asim Datta, the first Rhodes Scholar from India, began his studies in Oxford in 1947. Since then, nearly 250 Indian Scholars have come to Oxford. Although our community is small in comparison to Rhodes Scholars from other parts of the world, it is powerful. Rhodes Scholars from India include, to name only a few:
Menaka Guruswamy is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India who has been involved in a number of landmark cases before the Court (including the Section 377 case). She has taught at Yale Law School, New York University Law School, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Sid Mukherjee, a hematologist and oncologist, is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2011 and the Guardian First Book Award. The Gene: An Intimate History, his 2016 book, topped the New York Times Best Seller List and was nominated for the Wellcome Trust Prize.
Girish Karnad, the actor, director, Kannada writer and playwright who won numerous awards including, in 1998, the Jnanpith Award. He was conferred the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Rhodes Scholars from India have been great role models for the Rhodes Trust’s mission of attracting exceptional young leaders-in-the-making to Oxford University, and then sending them out in the world to make it a better place for future generations.
A Rhodes Scholarship is a route to a fully funded Oxford University education. That is a valuable prize in itself, of course, but the Scholarship is also so much more than that. Becoming a Rhodes Scholar is about joining a family of change-makers, always looking to make a difference.
In keeping with India’s growing stature in the global comity of nations, we need more Rhodes Scholars from India. Currently, 5 Scholars per year are being selected. Rhodes Scholars from India are already working with the Rhodes Trust to increase the number of Scholarships worldwide and bring these opportunities to the next generation of young people. Recently, for example, Rhodes Scholar and trailblazing advocate Menaka Guruswamy was selected as a Trustee of the Rhodes Trust.
Each Rhodes Scholarship is established as an endowment to make it sustainable and support Indian Rhodes Scholars in perpetuity, while continuing to build an impactful community. There are multiple ways in which new Scholarships can be created, ranging from an endowment donation(s) to full bequests with naming rights for benefactors, to coalition funding of Scholarship(s) and through annual support. Benefactors become a valued part of the Rhodes community, with the chance to meet impactful thought leaders and decision-makers across the globe.
Increasing the number of Rhodes Scholars for India is a top priority for the Rhodes Trust, because this would ensure that more outstanding students from India will have the opportunity to gain from the world-class education the University of Oxford offers. In addition, they will benefit from being part of the Rhodes Scholars remarkable global community. The result? A growing number of Indians going on to take their deserved place at the global top table of leaders.
