October/November 2009

Welcome to Rhodes E-news

Welcome to this first edition of Rhodes E-news.

I am immensely grateful to the many Scholars who have been in touch since my email letter of early August, and am keen to keep in touch with you on developments in the Rhodes community both in Oxford and around the world. 

As I hope this e-newsletter reflects, there is great energy among the Rhodes Scholars now in Oxford and in our global community. News of Rhodes Scholars and of the Rhodes community will be reflected on our web site, in quarterly e-newsletters such as this, and in occasional emails from me - including an update in November on matters of strategic importance for the Rhodes Scholarships.

In December, you will receive - in electronic form, at least – the traditional Warden's Christmas Letter. With this year's letter, the annual update form will be of particular importance as it will be used in a password-protected database of all Scholars that will be launched in 2010.

Just this week, as we have prepared for the Coming Up Dinner for the Rhodes Class of 2009, there have been memorial lectures in Oxford in honour of two Rhodes Scholars - Adam von Trott (Germany & Balliol 1931), executed in 1944 for his role in an assassination attempt against Hitler, and Bram Fischer (Orange Free State & New College 1931), who was imprisoned for his role in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa. It would be hard to find more evocative reminders of the importance of the Rhodes Scholarship, and of the importance of 'fighting the world's fight'.

I hope you will enjoy this e-newsletter and that you will keep in touch with us here at Rhodes House.

With best wishes 

Dr Donald Markwell
Warden

 

 

In This Edition:

Rhodes Scholars in the Class of 2009 have arrived at Rhodes House to an enthusiastic welcome from the Class of 2008 and the Warden. Read more…

Rhodes Scholar Class of 2009

Warden’s Welcome Day speech 

 

 

Spanning six decades and five continents, Rhodes alumni gathered at Rhodes House during the Oxford Alumni University Weekend. Read more…

Alumni Brunch set to become annual event with tentative date of Sunday, 26 September 2010.

Photo gallery of Rhodes Brunch and Open House

2010 Selection process underway as on-line applications are inaugurated. Read more…

 

 

Website redesign focuses on Scholars. Read more…

Scholars of all generations from around the world have responded to the Warden’s email letter.  Read more…

Warden’s 3 August 2009 email letter

New Oxford Vice-Chancellor is welcomed at Rhodes House.  Read more…

Andrew Hamilton’s installation as Vice-Chancellor
Listen to Professor Hamilton’s Inaugural Address

Thanks to Vice-Chancellor John Hood.  Read more...

Vice-Chancellor's Final Oration

Gifts for Rhodes House and the Scholarships. Read more...

The Class of 2009 has arrived

Members of the Rhodes Class of 2008 welcomed the arriving Class of 2009 with a week of informal social events at pubs, restaurants, and coffee shops across Oxford. Interaction among Scholars across class years and national groupings continued during an informative Welcome Day. The day’s activities also included an inspiring speech by the Warden, Dr Donald Markwell, and culminated in a party hosted by the Warden at Rhodes House which went late into the night.  The sense of community continues as small groups of Scholars join with the Warden for informal meals and lively conversation in his residence.

Download a PDF file of the Warden's Speech

Rhodes Scholar Class of 2009 List

2010 selection process gets underway as on-line applications are inaugurated

The Rhodes Scholar selection committees around the world are again engaged in the annual selection process. India is the first constituency to have completed selection of all five of its Scholars. In November, the Warden will take part in selection processes in Kenya, the US and Canada.  This year’s selection process inaugurates on–line applications for 11 of our constituencies. This new tool will make the process much more efficient and convenient for candidates and the committees.  Another useful by-product will be our ability to compile more robust analyses of trends and demographics by region.

Rhodes alumni engage at Rhodes House

Nearly 300 members of the Rhodes community from more than 16 countries, and from classes spanning five decades, gathered at Rhodes House on 27 September for a Brunch and Open House held during the Oxford University Alumni Reunion.  Rhodes alumni, many accompanied by their young families, interacted with current Scholars and strolled through the Warden’s Garden and residence. 

Plans are underway to make the Brunch at Rhodes House an annual event within the Oxford University Alumni Reunion Weekend, with a tentative date for next year of Sunday, 26 September 2010.

Photo gallery of Rhodes Brunch and Open House

Rhodes website redesign

The Rhodes House website (www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk) has been refreshed and expanded to highlight relevant news from Oxford, Rhodes House, and Scholars around the world.  New features include:

The site also provides easily accessible and downloadable copies of our founding governance documents and annual financial reports.  An important addition to the site in 2010 will be a password-protected searchable.   

Please peruse the site and forward any thoughts or suggestions along with information about books published, awards received or other items of interest to the Rhodes global community to: Helena.Snow@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk. 

 

Scholars of all generations from around the world have responded to the Warden’s email letter 

Scholars from across the constituencies and a wide array of disciplines have responded to the Warden’s email letter of 3 August 2009 with personal reflections and ideas regarding the future of the Rhodes Scholarships.  The responses have launched a dialogue and contributed to the strategic planning being undertaken by the Warden and the Trustees.  The Warden has also received pro bono assistance from a group of Rhodes Scholars at McKinsey & Company on benchmarking and analysis of competition, finance and governance.  In November, following the next meeting of the Board of Trustees, Dr Markwell will update the community on planning and invite further dialogue on what is needed to ensure the continued preeminence of the Rhodes Scholarships in the 21st century.

Download a PDF file of the Warden's August 3rd e-mail

New Oxford Vice-Chancellor welcomed at Rhodes House  

Oxford’s new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton, and his wife, Jennie Hamilton, joined enthusiastic Rhodes alumni at the 27 September Brunch and Open House.  A chemist and academic leader whose career has been largely based in the United States, the Vice-Chancellor views the Rhodes Scholarships as essential to Oxford’s future. Rhodes House also hosted the University’s formal luncheon in Professor Hamilton’s honour following his installation ceremony on 6 October, during which he promised that the hallmark of his tenure would be a “focus on the three core pillars that define the over-arching mission of the great universities of the world": the creation of knowledge, the dissemination of knowledge, and the preservation of knowledge. 

Professor and Mrs Hamilton joined the Trustees, Warden and Scholars at Rhodes House once again for the Coming Up Dinner on 30 October.   

Andrew Hamilton’s installation as Vice-Chancellor

Listen to Andrew Hamilton's Inaugural Address

The Rhodes Trust honours Vice-Chancellor John Hood   

The retiring Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Dr John Hood (New Zealand & Worcester 1976), was honoured by the Warden, Dr Donald Markwell, at a reception in the Warden's garden at Rhodes House both for his years of service to the University as Vice-Chancellor and for those he devoted to the Rhodes Trust as New Zealand Secretary. In response to the Warden's tribute, Dr Hood noted that of all the many ventures he had embarked upon over the course of his life, none had been as profoundly transformative as his years as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, where he'd arrived in the mid 1970s from a small isolated community in New Zealand. Emphasizing the close and mutually beneficial relationship that Oxford has enjoyed with the Rhodes Trust for more than a hundred years, Dr Hood spoke about the importance of the Rhodes Scholarships in forging Oxford's reputation as a preeminent international university, and trusted that the University and the Scholarships would continue to move together "from strength to strength".

Vice-Chancellor's Final Oration

Gifts for Rhodes House 

The wine cellar at Rhodes House now boasts an impressive addition of over two dozen cases of award-winning wines from the Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa, through the generosity of Antony Ball (St Andrew’s College, Grahamstown & Pembroke 1983). The Vergelegen farm has been producing wine since the early 18th century and is now considered a showpiece of South Africa’s recent wine renaissance.  

Mr Robin D. W. Norton has generously gifted a family heirloom of a silver tray and serving dish from Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) to Rhodes House.  Born in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and now living in Woodstock, near Oxford, Mr Norton believes that Rhodes House provides the best long-term home for these items of special significance.  The silver is an elegant addition that will be enjoyed by succeeding generations of Rhodes Scholars, and we are grateful to Mr Norton and his family.   

The Warden’s next e-mail to the Rhodes community will contain fuller details of gifts to support the Rhodes Scholarships.