This year, Penn produced no domestic Rhodes scholars this year.
An international award granting recipients the privilege of studying at Oxford University for a year or more, the Rhodes Scholarship ranks among the world’s most prestigious academic distinctions.
This year’s scholars were announced Sunday.
“We sent them remarkable students,” said Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships director Harriet Joseph. “They just didn’t choose them.”
According to Joseph, since CURF was established, Penn has produced five Rhodes scholars in total.
While no domestic applicants from Penn were awarded the scholarship this year, an international applicant may still receive the award. The Rhodes program grants 32 scholarships annually to American students and also offers scholarships to students from former British colonies or protectorates.
“We have three [international] finalists: one from Canada, one from Bermuda and one from Zimbabwe,” Joseph said. “We may have a Rhodes scholar yet — or two or three.”
International applicants will be interviewed in the coming weeks.
Joseph emphasized that this year more Penn applicants were chosen as finalists than ever.
Nineteen Penn students applied to the scholarship overall, with 12 of the 16 geographic regions represented. Of the seven finalists, three were international and four domestic.
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