The Rhodes Scholarships: Some Statistics and Suggestions [The following paper by Mr. Philip Kerr, Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, was drawn up as a "Memorandum to Selection Committees." It is here published by permission, virtually unabridged. ED.] T HE Rhodes Scholarship System has now been in operation for about 22 years. During that time about 1,250 Rhodes Scholars have come to Oxford. Of these rather less than half have come from the British Empire, and rather more than half from the United States. The numbers now in residence from the Empire and the U.S.A. are approximately equal. There is no doubt that, taken as a whole, the Rhodes Scholars have been a success at Oxford. They have been a factor for stability and character in the life of the University, and have been liked and respected there. They have entered into the social life of the Colleges. They have done well on the athletic field. Their accomplishment in the Final Examination Schools is shown below. RESULTS IN SCHOOLS (PLUS B.C.L.). The tables which follow give examination results up to August 1925, when the figures were compiled, for Rhodes Scholars elected between the years 1903 and 1922 inclusive. (1) The following percentages give a comparison of the performance of Rhodes Scholars from the Dominions and from the United States of America elected between the years 1903 and 1922 inclusive: N.B.-The American Scholars have taken more Advanced Degrees than the Scholars from the Dominions-67 as against 39. (2) Of Dominions' Rhodes Scholars elected between the years 1903 and 1922 inclusive, who either took the ordinary Honour Examinations, or, aiming at them, were prevented from taking them by failure to pass Preliminary Examinations, 53 obtained First Classes,* 166 Second Classes, 81 Third Classes, 20 Fourth Classes, and 27 failed to obtain a class. The percentages for the different Dominions work out (always roughly) as follows: Canada Newfoundland Ist 2nd 3rd 4th Class. Class. Class. Class. Failure. 1334 56 2334 234 334 2934 5234 92 54 234 62 39 30 84 164 33% 33% 22% 11 634 462 334 634 634 74 50 284 74 74 (3) The following table shows the performance of Rhodes Scholars as a whole (including those from the United States) as compared with that of the holders of British Open Scholarships on the one side and on the other of all other Undergraduates who took the Honour Schools during the same period: Ist Class 2nd Class 3rd Class 4th Class Scholars and Rhodes Commoners or holders of small Exhibitions. *This means 53 Scholars, not 53 First Classes. Six Scholars from the Dominions have obtained more than one First. Each of these six has been counted once only. It will be seen that the Open Scholars and Exhibitioners come out the best, but that the Rhodes Scholars make a very fair showing, and are well ahead of the Commoners. The above tables show that, at the time when the figures were compiled, New Zealand among the Dominions had the highest percentage of successes in the Schools. The highest point, however, attained by any single constituency was that reached by South Australia, of whose Scholars at Oxford, but their standing and influence in the life of their First Class Honours, and the remaining three Second Class Honours. In Mr. Rhodes' view, however, undoubtedly the final test of the success of his foundation was to be, not the success of his Scholars at Oxford, but their standing and influence in the life of their own countries 20 to 40 years later. Of that it is too early, perhaps, as yet to form an estimate and, in fact, every Selection Committee is probably in a better position to judge of the success of Rhodes Scholars in after life in their own land than can the Trustees from England. The following table, however, which shows the professions, etc., to which Rhodes Scholars have gone after leaving Oxford, so far as information is available, may be of interest: The success of the Rhodes Scholarship System depends on three things: (a) That the best and ablest of the young men come forward to compete for the Scholarships. (b) That the Selection Committees succeed in choosing from among the candidates that one who possesses those exceptional qualities of head, heart and character which will make him a leader in after life in his own community. (c) That the Scholar is able to seize the opportunities for self education which residence at Oxford, travel in Europe, and personal contact with fellow-students from all over the world put within his grasp. Mr. Rhodes defined the qualities which the Selection Committee should look for in candidates as follows: "My desire being that the students who shall be elected to the Scholarship shall not be merely bookworms I direct that in the election of a student to a Scholarship regard shall be had to (i) his literary and scholastic attainments, (ii) his fondness of and success in manly outdoor sports such as cricket, football and the like, (iii) his qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship and (iv) his exhibition during school days of moral force of character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his schoolmates for those latter attributes will be likely in after life to guide him to esteem the performance of public duties as his highest aim." In the early days there was a tendency in some parts to overrate the importance of the athletic qualification. In the opinion of the Trustees the athletic qualification ought to mean that the individual should be active in body, and should have developed the spirit of playing the game which comes from a love of manly outdoor games, rather than that he should exhibit exceptional prowess as an athlete. At a later stage the tendency was manifest in some places to attach undue importance to those qualities of amiability, tact and good fellowship which make it easy for the individual to adapt himself to the special conditions of College life in Oxford. The Trustees feel that it is possible to rate sociable qualities so high as to leave little room for those more masterful and dynamic qualities which are essential to leadership in after life. Elsewhere there has been at times a tendency to attach undue importance to the popularity of a candidate among his fellows at school or College. In many cases the fact that an individual has resisted the tide of student opinion is a better testimony to character and leadership than election to popular office. At the present time the tendency may be rather to underrate the importance of intellectual quality. General intelligence is not in itself enough. Universities are primarily institutions for developing the mind; and unless the student has some positive interest in ideas or scholarship for their own sake, it is likely that he will miss the best that the University of Oxford can give him. He may be a success in other respects. He may even attain a satisfactory standing in Schools. Unless, however, he has some capacity for original thinking he is unlikely in after life to arrive at a position of eminence in his profession or in public life. The Trustees have no wish to underrate the importance of the moral qualifications. They are only anxious that the intellectual test should be applied as rigorously as the moral; and that Committees should look, not certainly for the pedestrian qualities of the mere "grind" (the "bookworm" of Mr. Rhodes' Will), but for signs of real intelligence and ability of mind. In the judgment of the Trustees poverty does not constitute any qualification for a Scholarship. Mr. Rhodes did not found the Scholarship system which bears his name, as many other Scholarship systems have been founded, in order to enable poor Scholars to obtain a better education than would otherwise have been within their reach. His idea was a much wider one. He was persuaded that the progress of civilisation and the attainment of world peace depended largely upon the appearance of leaders throughout the English-speaking world who had |