University of Virginia Library

Must Be Eighteen

By October of the year of application
he must have passed his
eighteenth and not have passed
his twenty-fourth birthday; and
he must have attained at least
third-year standing at some recognized
degree-granting institution.

The Rhodes Scholarships were
instituted by Cecil John Rhodes,
a diamond entrepreneur in South
Africa but an undistinguished
Oxford student.

Mr. Rhodes willed much of his
fortune to establish a trust to
encourage scholars to attend his
alma mater.

Mr. Rhodes indicated in his
will that candidates should have
(1) "literary and scholastic attainments;"
(2) "fondness for and
success in" manly sports; (3)
"qualities of manhood, truth,
courage, devotion to duty, sympathy
for and protection of the
weak, kindliness, unselfishness,
and fellowship;" and (4) "moral
force of character and of instincts
to lend."

Among the more illustrious
American Rhodes Scholars are
Sen. J. William Fulbright, Supreme
Court Justices John Harlan
and Byron White, Secretary
of State Dean Rusk, and Rep.
Carl B. Albert.

The University's record in
Rhodes Scholarships has been
outstanding, according to Mr.
Davis. "For many years it stood
fourth in the nation in number
of Scholars," he said. "It now
ranks sixth."