Blocked Rhodes? Scholarship accused of ‘woke’ anti-conservative bias

Students interviewing for a Rhodes scholarship may want to leave their “Make America Great Again” ball caps at home.

The Rhodes, viewed as one of the world’s most prestigious scholarship programs, is accused of selecting students who champion only liberal causes and embracing “diversity, equity and inclusion” at the expense of academic merit.

The 122-year-old program annually offers about 100 international students free postgraduate study at Oxford University in England. The American Rhodes Trust conducts a rigorous competition to choose 32 Rhodes scholars from the United States.

The Rhodes Institute, an organization of previous scholars and allies, is leading the rebellion against wokeness. In a recently released video titled “Rhodes Scholarship: Fair or Rigged?” the institute advises applicants to conceal any right-of-center ideological leanings.

“It has at this stage become common knowledge that it is very difficult to get a Rhodes scholarship in the U.S. if you have certain racial and gender characteristics,” the narrator says as the words “white” and “man” appear on the screen.

“As an outspoken gun rights advocate, you have no chance,” the institute said. “If you advocate for low taxes or free speech, you will probably not get selected, regardless of how brilliant you may be.”

The bottom line: It’s best not to mention an internship with the National Rifle Association or any campaign door-knocking for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The Rhodes Trust, which administers the scholarship, denies discrimination based on race, sex or political bent. It says the selection criteria are focused solely on “excellence of intellect and character, and potential for leadership and positive impact.”

“Our instructions to selectors make clear that committees should choose the strongest candidates purely based on merit,” the trust said in a statement to The Washington Times. “They are explicitly directed not to try to ‘balance’ or seek diversity of gender, race, ideology, academic field or any other characteristic. We value individuals in our community across the whole political spectrum.”

Critics, however, point to the cover of Rhodes Scholar Magazine’s 2021 issue, which features drawings of students holding up fists and messages such as “BLM,” “No justice, no peace,” “Decolonize the curriculum” and “Black trans lives matter.” The issue’s theme is “No one way to lead.”

Dan Lubrich, Rhodes Institute president and a Rhodes scholar, said the ramifications go beyond limiting the diversity of thought, given the scholarship’s ability to open doors in government, business, media and politics.

“It’s really astonishing how the Rhodes has been used by the political left in the United States,” Mr. Lubrich said. “So many prominent analysts and politicians and commentators are Rhodes, and I think it’s not a good thing because it’s completely unbalanced.”

Left-wing ‘launching pad’

Founded in 1902 by mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, the program initially admitted only students from the British Empire, the United States and Germany but has since expanded to include the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

“Competition for the scholarship, now available globally through 24 constituencies, is intense,” the trust said. “For our U.S. constituency, 16 different committees interview outstanding finalists on the same day and select the two they believe best exemplify our criteria.”

Only 105 students worldwide were selected for the class of 2024.

American Rhodes scholars include former President Bill Clinton, former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

Conservatives such as former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also have been Rhodes scholars, but Mr. Lubrich said the program’s leadership and recipients have been shifting leftward for decades.

“The institution has become just a launching pad for people to go into left-wing politics,” Mr. Lubrich said. “And without that competition from other people, it lowers the quality in leaders.”

An American Enterprise Institute study of American Rhodes scholars and Truman scholars from 2019 through 2023 found that their research interests “reflect a decided leftward lean and a near absence of right-leaning thought.”

The analysis showed 56 of the American Rhodes scholars cited at least one liberal issue among their research interests, including immigration rights, diversity and inclusion studies, racial justice, climate change and LGBTQ rights, while 21 mentioned “centrist” issues.

Only one mentioned a “conservative” research topic, according to the May report by Frederick Hess, the think tank’s director of education policy studies, and research assistant Joe Pitts.

“While 56 Rhodes Scholars expressed interest in at least one progressive issue, just a single scholar expressed an interest in any of the conservative issues,” the AEI report stated. “This single scholar who cited a conservative issue was focused on advocating for Muslims in India.”

The report concluded that the scholarship programs “need to take more seriously the challenge of recruiting students with diverse interests and perspectives.”

“This state of affairs should be a concern for programs that work closely with public institutions (or even use public funds) to cultivate an inclusive community of future civic leaders,” the report said. “This is especially true given that these leaders will confront challenges that may well require bridging stark divides in a distrustful, polarized nation.”

The scholarship initially admitted only men until the British Parliament changed the terms in 1977. Women now dominate the list of recipients in the United States and Canada.

Since 2015, the annual class of 32 American Rhodes scholars has featured more women than men. The 2024 class has 20 women and 12 men. According to an institute report, as many as 19 of the U.S. winners are non-White.

The Rhodes Trust denied discriminating based on race or sex. It said the “number of winners by race, gender and other characteristics varies significantly each year, as one would expect in a merit-based system.”

The interests of this year’s U.S. recipients include fossil-fuel divestment, abortion rights, the “climate crisis,” “decolonization,” “social justice,” “colonialism,” “Black and queer farming,” and pro-Palestinian activism.

Two of the U.S. honorees, Suhaas Bhat and Asmer Asrar Safi, were prevented from graduating from Harvard University in May because they participated in the anti-Israel campus encampment. They will be ineligible to attend Oxford until they graduate.

Mr. Lubrich said concerns about the program’s leftward tilt date back decades. He said an applicant was selected about 20 years ago after keeping quiet about his involvement in Republican politics.

More recently, critics point to the case of Virginia Thrasher, a U.S. Rhodes finalist from West Virginia University who failed to make the cut in 2018 despite graduating summa cum laude and winning a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 10-meter air-rifle competition.

“That’s a very rare credential,” Mr. Lubrich said. “It was very odd that someone like that wouldn’t get picked, but again, from what we heard, she was more on the right politically. And there were guns involved in the sport.”

He said he wants more right-of-center students to seek Rhodes scholarships, but “it’s a double-edged sword.”

“Obviously, we want more conservatives to apply and to win, but on the other hand, it’s hard to send people into a wild goose chase or into the meat grinder knowing that if they’re open at all, they’re not going to win,” Mr. Lubrich said. “The best advice you can give people is to shut your mouth about certain things. It’s sad.”

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Rhodes Institute President Dan Lubrich’s name.