Kenyan Scholars support Scholarships, giving in memory of John Silvester
Kenyan Rhodes Scholars are fundraising to support the Scholarships and to honour long-time Kenyan Secretary John Silvester (East Africa & Jesus 1953), who died in January.
Elchi Nowrojee (Kenya & St Antony’s 1992) and Kenyan National Secretary to the Rhodes Trust, Janet Kabiru (Kenya & St Hilda’s 1995), are together leading an effort to encourage Kenyan Scholars around the world to participate in fundraising for the Scholarships with gifts in memory of John Silvester (East Africa & Jesus 1953). 
John Silvester (8 April 1935 - 18 January 2011), a lawyer in Nairobi, was the foremost advocate of the return of the Rhodes Scholarship to Kenya in the early 1980s. He successfully oversaw its re-establishment, serving as Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee in Kenya from 1984 to 1999, including overseeing the expansion in 1991 to a second Scholarship.
Elchi recently stated, 'John Silvester was a friend and mentor to many of the recent Kenya Scholars and provided patient guidance and support to all of us. He will be sorely missed. Contributions by the Kenya Scholars to the Rhodes Trust are a fitting memorial to John and a recognition of his deep commitment to the non-imperial ideals of the Scholarship and their dissemination in Kenya.'
In response to the strong desire to commemorate John’s important contributions, for which we are all profoundly grateful, Scholars may make donations to support the Rhodes Scholarship the Rhodes Trust in John’s memory. Please click here for further information about supporting the Scholarships, and contact contact Elchi Nowrojee or development@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk with any queries.
For further information about John Silvester (and other Rhodes Scholars who have died recently), click here. For an obituary of John Silvester by Laurie Slade, click here.
