From Elliot Gerson, Rhodes Trust

On:  Sports and the Rhodes Scholarship
14.IV.06

We don’t require sports success, or even participation.  Most Rhodes Scholars have not played varsity sports, and many have not played any sport at a high level.  Athletics (“fondness for and success in … sport” in the late 19th century English idiom of the Rhodes Will) was one of the criteria established in the Rhodes bequest.  Exceptional athletic success or involvement, or leadership in sports, is still a positive factor after the basic academic foundation is met.  And sports may tip the balance in someone’s favor after consideration of the other criteria.  But the absence of success in sport is not a demerit.  This criterion may be interpreted as seeking people of considerable vigor and ambition, and as one of the factors that contribute to the well-rounded excellence we seek.  See the discussion in my FAQ at www.rhodesscholar.org.

The Rhodes Scholarship is fundamentally an academic award. Those who fulfill our criterion for extraordinary academic excellence, who also have achieved success in sports, have an advantage in the views of most of our selectors, as do those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership or concern and commitment to others.  Frankly, the time commitment required of many varsity sports, especially for major sports at Division 1 schools, make the combination of varsity sporting excellence and academic excellence at the level we seek rare; in earlier decades of the Scholarship, before the professionalization of sport at many institutions, the balance was more achievable.