For more than a century, the Rhodes Trust has connected brilliant students, sparked world-changing conversations and fostered a community ready to put their potent ideas into action as they fight the world's fight.
Every element of the Rhodes Scholar experience is strengthened by The Scholars Fund. Your generosity and financial support create valuable opportunities and provide immediate impact for Scholars in Oxford and beyond.
Today, we need you to add your voice and your potential.
Rhodes Scholars explain why they give back to the Rhodes Trust and what giving means to them. Together, we unite to share our diverse perspectives, draw new connections and give rise to the novel solutions that change the world.
Your gift has exponential impact and exponential potential.
The community of Scholars was the most transformative aspect of my experience at Oxford. Scholars’ intellects, character, hearts and souls inspired me to strive every day to become a better person. That journey continues today. Members of that community continue to play important roles in my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to invest in the experience of today’s Scholars in Residence with the confidence of knowing that I am investing in a lifetime asset for these talented folks.
Maurice Jones (Virginia & St John's 1986)
The Scholars Fund is a vital source of regular income that seeks £1 million each year to finance a portion of current Scholar costs and to further enhance the Scholar experience.
Annual gifts have immediate impact, making them an essential complement to the Trust’s endowment, which is invested for the long term.
The Scholars Fund is your primary vehicle for giving in support of the Scholarships. Gifts create opportunities to support top priorities like the Character, Service and Leadership Programme, global outreach, Scholar financial support and intergenerational convening and alumni connectivity.
It seeks to provide the margin of excellence needed to maintain the Scholarships at the forefront of scholarships and other leadership development programmes.
Every gift to the Scholars Fund – no matter the size – unleashes the Exponential Potential of Scholars.
Gifts to the Scholar Support Fund directly help Scholars thrive regardless of financial restraints and resources. Gifts provide critical extra support to Scholars who are facing hardship, or encounter unexpected needs including medical emergencies and mental health issues.
Travel and research opportunities provide formative and vital experiences outside the classroom. The fund helps Scholars thrive in their Oxford courses and complete their degrees.
Annually, the Trust sees staggering need for research, conference, and travel grant support from our current Scholar community.
Some Scholars apply to travel for archival research, others to attend major international conferences at which, in most cases, they are presenting their work.
These grants have, and continue to, provide resources for those who would otherwise not been able to complete their theses without this on-the-ground research and field study.
Gifts to this fund may also provide 4th year fees for those Scholars pursuing DPhil degrees.
Scholars collaborate in many ways, both during their time at Oxford and as part of a lifelong network.
Current Scholar groups working on a range of issues and opportunities regularly meet. Intergenerational convening is anchored by large-scale forums on topical issues held at Rhodes House. The forums are instrumental in the move from a community of shared interest to one of shared purpose. The first forum was on healthcare. Forums have since covered subjects such as technology and society, pandemic preparedness, climate change, ventures, LGBTQ+ and the humanities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rhodes Trust has been connecting Scholars and Fellows all around the world who have been working on impactful ways to combat COVID-19.
Scholars have continued collaborating throughout the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual connections and conversations.
Watch Professor John Wideman in conversation with Field Brown and Chelsea Jackson about storytelling, freedom, policing and the inheritance of trauma.
The Character, Service & Leadership Programme is for current Scholars. It draws on Senior Scholars as moderators of the core first and second year retreats as well as skills workshops, speaker series, internship placements, virtual mentorship and Scholar convenings. It is pioneering in the sphere of developing principled leadership and approaching global problem solving, influence and impact, on a moral, engaged and collective rather than individual basis.
This discretionary fund provides the Warden with the flexibility to respond with immediate support for unforeseen urgent needs, unexpected opportunities and fresh new ideas. This discretionary fund is seen as critically important by both past Wardens and the current Warden.
Every element of the Scholar experience is strengthened by The Scholars Fund. Your generosity creates valuable opportunities for Scholars in Oxford and beyond.
Give rise to the novel solutions that change the world by extending Rhodes Scholarships to connect those from communities with under-represented
perspectives and intelligences.
Making the Scholarship truly global.
By including the Rhodes Scholarships in your estate planning you ensure future generations will continue to benefit from this unique experience.
