Link to the Rhodes Scholarship Web Site

Information from the Rhodes Scholarship Web Site

Purpose:

The criteria which Mr. [Cecil] Rhodes set forth in his Will still guide Committees of Selection in their assessment of applicants. The Will contains four standards by which prospective Rhodes Scholars should be judged:

1. literary and scholastic attainments;

2. energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;

3. truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;

4. moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's  fellow beings.

Underlying these standards is the aim that Scholars be physically, intellectually and morally capable of leadership, that is, persons who, in Mr. Rhodes phrase, will "esteem the performance of public duties as [their] highest aim." From this statement one may infer that he expected his Scholars to play an influential part in the betterment of society, wherever their careers might lead them.

Contact the Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at Louisiana Tech University for additional information from the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, including Information for Appicants and Regulations and Application Form: