Letter to the Trustees from the Rhodes Alliance

 May 15, 2024

Dear Chairman Bell, Warden Kiss, Secretary Doyle, and the Rhodes Trustees,

In anticipation of the start of a new competition for the Scholarship in the fall, the  Alliance of Rhodes Scholars calls on the Warden and Trustees to remove references to policies of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from all Rhodes publications and the website as well as any photos or references in application materials that suggest Scholars are chosen on any other basis than merit.

We believe the Scholarship is being mis-administered and the Trustees are acting in violation of the specific instructions contained in Rhodes’s Will which ban not only exclusion on the basis of race but also favoritism. The seriousness of the situation is made obvious by the Trust’s publications. The section of the web site on “Legacy, Equity and Inclusion,” establishes “diversity” – in gender, race and economic circumstances - as a goal of the scholarship and thereby informs any potential applicant that he will be judged on the basis of irrelevant criteria.

The posed photos in the application materials, which exclude white males, and statements by the Trust on the supposed role of racism in the history of the Trust convey the same message.

The Rhodes Scholarship owes its prestige to the fact that for more than a century it was a symbol of excellence. The Scholarship is living on the capital of effort and commitment built up over decades by those who shared its core values. It will not survive widespread public awareness of the current policies which render impossible the achievement of the Scholarship’s actual objective, which is fostering merit and preparing genuine leaders.

It is also critical to point out that, in their present form, the policies of the Trust are now unlawful in the United States and, if changes are not made immediately, they are likely to become the subject of litigation.

The Warden and Trustees have taken it upon themselves to “reimagine” the Trust in the light of current academic mass psychology. We call on the Trustees and the Warden to cease the effort to conform to present political fashion and return the Scholarship to its long held principles. The reform of the web site and publications is the obvious place to start.

Sincerely,

The Alliance of Rhodes Scholars