Three Rhodes in four years...

parent2noles · August 8, 2009, 9:53am

Why indeed would any student pass up an opportunity at Harvard to attend Florida State University? Perhaps one answer lies here…

Since 2005, The Florida State University has produced three Rhodes Scholars. No other state university in the nation can make that claim.

The groundwork began in late 2004, when Florida State established its first Office of National Fellowships. Finally, students had a one-stop shop — equal parts recruiter, teacher, coach, navigator and advocate — that would help them to compete with Ivy League students for prestigious fellowships, and win.

And win they did. In the past four years, the Rhodes triple play at Florida State has been bested by only nine schools — a rarefied group composed of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the University of Chicago. During the same period, a mere six schools have managed to match the Rhodes record of Florida State. That stellar cadre includes Columbia, Brown and Georgetown universities.

Among the many renowned institutions who have garnered “only” one or two Rhodes Scholarships since 2005, while Florida State was nabbing three: Dartmouth College; Cornell University; the universities of Virginia, California-Berkeley, Michigan-Ann Arbor and Texas-Austin; Washington University in St. Louis; the U.S. Air Force Academy; Northwestern University; and the California Institute of Technology.

**Craig Filar is the director of Florida State University’s Office of National Fellowships. He has noticed that word is really getting around about the university’s rapid-fire succession of wins on the national front.

“Across the country, we’re now viewed as a force to be reckoned with,” he said.**

While the Office of National Fellowships has evolved into an increasingly expert guide through a complex, extremely competitive application and interview process, the quantity, quality and diversity of fellowships won and the speed with which they have accrued reflect first and foremost the caliber of students at Florida State…

…But also extraordinary: The more than 40 other nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships collected by Florida State students — clearly among the nation’s best — since the 5-year-old Office of National Fellowships opened for business. So far, these honors include three Truman Scholarships, a trio of Goldwater Scholarships, a Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and Udall Scholarship, and an impressive total of 26 Fulbright Fellowships.

See: [Florida</a> State University](<a href=“Florida State University”>Florida State University)

Yes, FSU is indeed aiming for the best and brightest…but NATIONALLY, not just in-state.

Go 'Noles! (You make me proud to be an FSU alumnus)

VastlyOverrated · August 8, 2009, 2:09pm

That really is something to be proud of, but it symbolizes one step forward in a year when FSU (and many other, especially public, universities) have taken numerous steps back. FSU is shutting down an entire department (Anthro) for goodness sake…and a pretty good one at that. I’m not a Harvard fan, but that would never happen there.

parent2noles · August 8, 2009, 6:13pm

Reality of life at a state university, I suppose. Unlike the private school Harvard, which has billions in reserve, FSU and virtually all other state schools have to set priorities, especially during times of funding restraint.

lizard · August 8, 2009, 7:54pm

Harvard is getting clobbered by the economy too just like everyone else, only on a larger scale. America’s richest college is laying off staff and surely making more changes to services and programs in the future. Harvard’s endowment dropped in value the last year around $12billion to a today value estimated at around $25billion. In other words, Harvard’s loss of $12billion the past 12 months equals 40 X’s the approximate today worth of FSU’s total $300million endowment. Needless to say that is quite a mega-hit in Harvard’s wallet.

[Harvard</a> cuts 275 jobs, cites drop in endowment | U.S. | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55M66320090623]Harvard”>http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55M66320090623)

ThoughtProvoking · October 9, 2009, 5:50pm

I’m not quite sure on what basis Florida State University is making that claim.

Since 2005, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has produced six Rhodes Scholars: Kate Harris, Rachel Mazyck, Ben Lundin, Adrian Johnston, Aisha Ihab Saad, and Elisabeth “Lisette” Yorke.

(from [UNC</a> General Alumni Association :: Rhodes Scholars from UNC](<a href=“Carolina Alumni”>Carolina’s Rhodes Scholars - Carolina Alumni))

parent2noles · October 9, 2009, 11:53pm

FSU’s claim is based on U.S. based Rhodes awards, not Canadian based or otherwise external to the United States Rhodes awards.

etherdome · October 10, 2009, 9:33am

While Harvard has taken a massive hit, the size of its reserves dwarf FSU’s highest hopes. This underscores the importance of selecting the absolute best successor to Whetherall (sp?).

While the debate may rage over Bobby’s succession plan, the truly important debate should be centered on who will lead FSU forward. A good president will set the university’s goals and attract money. If you look at the University of Miami, for example. Ms Shalayla (sp?) has managed to multiply that school’s endowment handsomely. She did the same for the University of Wisconsin.

I am harping on this subject only to encourage FSU’s supporters to look past political cronyism and regional bias. The next president of FSU needs to be a global player. If FSU misses this opportunity, it will be stuck in the muck of mediocrity for decades. However, if the right person is chosen, the university could be propelled into the highest echelons.

To that end, I say: spend a lot of time looking for the best. Then, do not quibble over salary. Make sure that you pay your president more than your football coach. I promise that you will never regret it.

If FSU can develop Rhode Scholars with little or no money, imagine what it can do with billions in its endowment.

Three Rhodes in four years...

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