Character, Service & Leadership Programme

To address these gaps and reimagine the Scholarship for the 21st century, Charles Conn, a visionary Warden of the Rhodes Trust and himself a Rhodes Scholar, conceived a programme to reimagine and rethink the Scholar experience. Charles Conn did not want the values of the Scholarship to be merely empty ideas; he wanted Scholars in Residence to have a holistic experience around their academic engagement. 

While he recognised that the four essential criteria of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service were vital in selecting Scholars, he wanted to explore how these could also shape the Scholar experience at Oxford. Drawing inspiration from his transformative experience as a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, he envisioned a space where Scholars could engage in meaningful conversations around shared readings and experiences, ask more profound questions, learn from one another and build community across their differences. 

Introduced by the Warden, the Scholar programme was brought to life through the collective effort of many, including Scholars, facilitators, and Rhodes House staff. The conversation continued into a rigorous brainstorming session that lasted two and a half days and continues to evolve today, thanks to the contributions of many members of the community. Their ideas, including an emphasis on intersectionality, theories of justice, and radical play, ensured the programme engaged with the Scholar community in multifaceted ways. 

Through this programme, the Rhodes Scholarship has continued adapting to the changing world, embracing inclusivity and diversity and engaging critically and honestly with its history while staying true to its core purpose as a merit scholarship. It is a testament to the power of collaboration and creativity and to the collective vision of many passionate individuals.

The framework used during the Character, Service and Leadership Programme was developed by Scholars for Scholars. It provided a pedagogical guide for Scholars, enabling them to learn, connect, engage, lead and serve. Scholars could develop tools for enhanced self-awareness and resources for developing self-compassion, as well as build their own infrastructure for understanding and working with others, and essential skills such as learning to deal with disagreement.

Alongside these tools, the programme offered a range of opportunities for Scholars to engage with the world through talks and readings on complex global challenges. It supported collaboration to create solutions that meaningfully contribute to a better world.

In the video below, former Dean of Leadership, Service and Character Development at Rhodes House, Dr Michael Lamb, shares how early conversations on the Character, Service and Leadership Programme emerged among Scholars.

The formal and structured programme beginning in 2013 was initially reading-intensive, intending to provide a standard set of resources and prompts for deep conversation. One of the first organisers of the programme fondly recalled that they stayed up late to print and photocopy heavy binders (over 100 pages!) of the readings with which Scholars were expected to engage. In the early years of the Character, Service and Leadership Programme, Scholars engaged with comprehensive reading materials, which were curated to spark thoughtful dialogue. However, as feedback was collected, the programme evolved to include a more diverse range of readings and to adopt a more intersectional lens in its approach. Early moderators, who were mostly experts in political theory, were joined by a broader, more inclusive set of facilitators over time. 

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 prompted the adaptation of the retreats to an online format, ensuring that Scholars could continue to connect meaningfully while respecting public health guidelines. While the transition was initially challenging, Scholars soon came to appreciate the opportunity to create lasting connections and showcase their talents in a new format.

The relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions and the ‘Big Build’ project to expand and renovate Rhodes House in Oxford meant that the Character, Service and Leadership Programme had to evolve yet again. Now, retreats have become residential and take place outside Oxford. Scholars appreciate the opportunity to disengage from Oxford's stresses and connect, reflect and engage. The common thread throughout the retreats is that Scholars relish the chance to widen their friendship circles and reflect on their experiences and plans. They also welcome the opportunity to engage with Upper Year and Alumni Scholars who have been through the same journey.

2013-2014: Formalised Inception of the Character, Service and Leadership Programme

• Warden Charles Conn advocates formally integrating character, service, and leadership into the Rhodes Scholar experience.
  
  

 2014-2016: Launch of Retreats and Early Years Development

• Programme Development: Led by Warden Conn, committed contributors design the first retreat, focusing on leadership principles and practices through critical reading, self-reflection and community involvement.

• Scholar Voices and Key Contributions: A group of founders and shapers including Scholar Alumni like Dr Ian Desai, Dr JanaLee Cherneski, Dr Max Harris, Michael Bungay Stanier and former Dean of Leadership, Service and Character Development Dr Michael Lamb are critical to the establishment and ongoing iterations to the Character, Service and Leadership Programme curriculum, focusing on intersectionality and radical play in leadership development. 
  
  

2016-2019: Refinement of Approach, Arc, and Program Design

• New Phase with Dr Nadiya Figueroa: As Dean of Scholarships and Director of Leadership and Change, Dr Figueroa refined the Character, Service and Leadership Programme, introducing deeper retreat designs and the ‘No One Way’ philosophy, and the ‘Self, Others, World’ framework to highlight the interrelated learning that scholars explore throughout the program - learning and building awareness about self, evolving how they relate to others and honing practices to support the impact they intend to have in the world.

• Refinement to Programme’s Arc: There was also a continued focus on mobilising resources for the programme, from a more diverse field of retreat facilitators, alumni expert contributors, and eventually teams of upper-year scholars.

• Expert Contributions: Design pods were convened to deep-dive into the developmental stage of scholars in residence to inform program design. Alumni and current scholars, such as Annick Labadie and Dr Mayanka Mukherji, supported the codification of approaches to cohort-based learning, which brought coherence to the myriad scholar programming beyond the retreats and orientation. 

• Key Partnerships: Cross-pollination was conducted between the Character, Service and Leadership Programme and key partnership programs in their early design stages. Founding executive directors Dr Penelope Brook and Dr Megan Wheeler were facilitators on Character, Service and Leadership Programme retreats

• Program Expansion: The program expands to include Orientation for first-year Scholars

• Establishment of the Scholar Programme Facilitator (SPF) Team: Created to equip upper-year Scholars with facilitation tools, enabling them to organize, support, and serve as liaisons between Scholars and staff.

• New Offerings: The Character, Service and Leadership Programme introduces workshops and speaker sessions with global experts, and Scholars start to embark on transformational internships by applying their leadership skills.

• Historic Leadership: Warden Kiss makes history as the first woman to hold the Warden of Rhodes House position and undertakes the continued development of the Character, Service and Leadership Programme.
  
  

2020 - 2021: Expansion of Offerings and Transitions in the Program

• Leadership Transition: Dr Doyin Atewologun appointed Dean of the Rhodes Scholarship including oversight for developing and expanding the Character, Service and Leadership Programme, building on Dr Figueroa’s work.   

• Pandemic Adaptation: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Character, Service and Leadership Programme transitioned to virtual and hybrid formats under Dean Doyin Atewologun’s leadership. This phase focused on innovative strategies to foster community and sustain engagement through virtual platforms.

• Virtual Retreats: The Retreats necessarily pivoted to Zoom. Retreat weekends were run partly asynchronously, with Learning Pods meeting via Zoom across five different time zones and the whole group coming together synchronously for key notes, plenary talks and social activities over the weekend. The core objectives for the programme were adapted to reflect the times; the focus turned to building and sustaining connections in a primarily online world, for First Years, and, for Second Years, to offering a forum for exchange of insights and practical tips in navigating their current worlds and future plans in the midst of disruption. 

• Transition to In-Person: With Scholars returning to Oxford post-pandemic and after the Big Build, Rhodes House reopens as a hub for the Character, Service and Leadership Programme activities and gatherings. Retreats and other off-site events also resume with travel now possible.

2022 - Present: Reflection and Forward Planning

• New Programme Shapers: The Scholar Programme team, led by Director of Scholar Programming Dr Fenella Porter and Associate Programme Director Dr J. Daniel Luther, has established programming principles and a curatorial strategy to shape and guide the Character, Service and Leadership Programme, enabling a more comprehensive range of interventions, including Scholar-led initiatives.

• Experimentation with Scholar Feedback: SPFs gather qualitative feedback from Scholars about their Character, Service and Leadership Programme experience. This feedback inspires changes like guest speakers, off-site retreats, adjusting program timings, and trialling different reflective exercises.

• Accommodating Diverse Learning Styles: Scholar Programming introduced varied ‘touchpoints’ to suit different learning styles and interests, such as Scholar trips (e.g., UK-based and Patagonia) and skills workshops focused on building collective community skills.

• Piloting a Self-Assessment Tool (2024 Cohort): Launched a tool for Scholars to track their learning journey, fostering intentionality in building understanding within the CSL framework.