Rhodes Scholars, Oxford, and the Creation of an American Elite. Thomas J. Schaeper
if any detailed study had ever been done on Rhodes Scholars. Outside of the many short newspaper and magazine articles that have appeared regularly throughout the century, we found that there was no recent, thorough book on the subject. Indeed, the only books ever written on Rhodes Scholars were “in-house” products, written by British or American officials of the program. The most recent of these dated from 1955.
We therefore concluded that the time had come for an extended examination of this subject. What kinds of people have won the scholarships? What did these students do in Oxford? What did they achieve in their later careers? We believed that we were uniquely equipped to embark on such a study. Our experiences in both American and British universities and our supervision of American students in Oxford gave us first-hand knowledge of the topic. Moreover, we could bring to the project the impartiality of outsiders. Neither of us has ever received (or applied for) a Rhodes Scholarship.
If we had any doubts about the need for such a book, those worries quickly dissolved. Upon mentioning the project to a variety of friends, neighbors, and students, we received puzzled looks from many, who wondered why we were studying “roads” scholars. Other persons we met were better informed but still filled with a variety of misconceptions. One, for example, thought that the scholarships took American students to that “other” British university – Cambridge. When we began to interview Rhodes Scholars themselves we realized that many of them were also curious about the history of the program and eager to see what general conclusions we would reach.
As our research advanced, its scope widened. We could see that the finished product would be more than a volume about scholarships and the students who won them. In many ways the book has become a comparative history of British and American education and society over the past century.
We should also make clear what this book is not. It is not a guide on how to apply for and win a Rhodes Scholarship. Students who hope to do this should contact the institutional representatives appointed on every campus throughout the United States. It is likewise not a history of all Rhodes Scholars. We focus on American Rhodes Scholars, who have made up roughly 40 percent of the total. As far as we know, no one yet has done a thorough study of Rhodes Scholars from Canada, Australia, India, and the other countries participating in the program. We encourage anyone who is interested to follow our lead and produce similar books on these other nationalities. Finally, this is not a book filled with anecdotes about celebrities. Yes, we try to tell some interesting, amusing stories. And, yes, we write about the celebrities. But we also discuss the many scholars who happen to work in professions that have not made them household names.
We hope that Rhodes Scholars will forgive two small liberties that we take throughout the following pages. Among Rhodes Scholars, the sentiment is, “once a Rhodes Scholar, always a Rhodes Scholar.” One is never a “former” scholar. However, in order to avoid confusion, we use “former” when we refer to those who have completed their studies in Oxford and begun their careers. Also, among Rhodes Scholars, the proper way to identify oneself is to give one's state, Oxford college, and class year. Students who try for the scholarship have the option of applying to the selection committee in either their home state or in the state where they will graduate from college. Bill Clinton, for example, had the option of applying from Arkansas or, as a student at Georgetown University, from Washington, DC. He chose the former. In Oxford he studied at University College. Therefore his proper Rhodes Scholar identification is “Arkansas and University 1968.” For the sake of brevity, throughout this book we eliminate the state and college. At the first mention of a person we will give his or her class year.
One of the people who helped us most on this project was Frank Sieverts, a member of the Rhodes Scholar class of 1955. After he finished perusing the entire manuscript, he concluded, “You cover the subject, beauty marks and warts and all, as it should be.” We hope that other readers will agree.
This updated paperback edition includes a few corrections to factual or typographical errors that appeared in the original text, which was published in 1998. We have also been able to add the names of the most recent American Rhodes Scholars. The Appendix now includes all winners through the class of 2009.
RHODES, SOUTH AFRICA, AND OXFORD
What an amazingly clever fellow Rhodes is. The only person I ever knew who combined patriotism & plunder.
John Xavier Merriman, South African politician, 1895
The man who amalgamated the diamond industry, who created the Chartered Company and dreamed of extending British influence from the Cape to Cairo…was also the man whose guiding star was Aristotle's definition of happiness as activity in excellence, whose pocket was never without his well-thumbed Marcus Aurelius, who had the whole of the classics specially translated for himself, and whose lasting memorials are the name of a great country and an educational endowment.
L.S. Amery, Senior Rhodes Trustee, 1953
The Man
When Cecil John Rhodes died on 26 March 1902 he left one final surprise for the world. In his checkered, spectacular career he had won international fame as an empire builder, colonial governor, financier, and diamond baron. Few would have guessed that he could be a philanthropist too. Yet when his will was published about two weeks after his funeral the world learned of the bequest establishing the scholarships that bear his name. The Rhodes Scholarships quickly became the most famous educational awards in the English-speaking world.
Rhodes was born in 1853 in the Hertfordshire town of Bishop's Stortford. His father was the parish vicar. The family had eleven children, nine of whom reached adulthood. Cecil was the fifth son. The family had been able to afford to send his older brothers to public school (that is, private boarding schools), but Cecil himself went to a local grammar school.
When Cecil was seventeen his family dispatched him to South Africa. Most authorities who have written about him have stated that the reason for this move was the youth's fragile health. He was thought to have been tubercular and to have a “dickey” heart. His most recent and authoritative biographer, Robert I. Rotberg, however, sharply revises this view. Rhodes was not consumptive. Although the young man's health was often described as delicate and he occasionally suffered from what probably was arteriosclerosis, he often displayed impressive vigor and stamina. Rhodes did not suffer from constant ill health until his final years.1
The primary reason for sending him to Africa was economic. The family hoped that Cecil would find a career and establish himself financially. Two of his older brothers were already in South Africa. Frank was a soldier, and Herbert a cotton farmer.
The territory that today makes up the Republic of South Africa was at that time a patchwork of different lands. The British Empire controlled the colonies the Cape of Good Hope and Natal. The social and political elites there were English-speaking settlers and Afrikaners of Dutch descent. These two groups coexisted in an uneasy alliance and dominated the vast majority of blacks, coloreds (people of mixed race), and Asian immigrants. Further to the north were the Dutch republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State, dominated by Boers (Dutch for “farmer”). There were also vast stretches of territory where native tribes such as the Bantu still dominated.
After only a year at farming, Rhodes followed his restless brother Herbert to the rough frontier town of Kimberley, where the discovery of diamonds in 1867 had created a hectic and brutal scramble similar to the 1849 gold rush in California. The young man who until that time had displayed no special talents or interests quickly found his métier. Over the next two years his hard work and clever, perhaps unscrupulous, dealings with competitors made him a fortune that would have lasted a lifetime for a person of lesser ambitions.
In 1873 Rhodes returned to England, primarily to see his ailing mother. While there he decided to seek admittance to the University of Oxford. As a budding entrepreneur who perhaps already aspired to political office, he appears to have felt the need for the polish that an Oxford education could