Five Students Win Rhodes Scholarships

A year after being shut out of the Rhodes Scholarship competition for the first time since 1930, Harvard nabbed five of the 32 spots awarded this year—the most of any college.

Neil R. Brown ’01, Albert H. Cho ’02, Stephen E. Sachs ’02, Andrew Park ’01-’02 and Robert R. Porter ’00-’02 were all named recipients of the prestigious award yesterday.

They will spend the next two to three years studying at the University of Oxford in England.

Harvard now boasts 300 Rhodes Scholars.

Sachs, who will be studying philosophy, politics and economics, said that he feels fortunate to have made it through all the “hoops” that applicants are forced to jump through.

He said that, while he enjoyed the more informal events like the final cocktail party, he was particularly unnerved when an interviewer asked, “What makes you sad?”

“I was so shell-shocked I can’t remember how I responded, but I guess they liked my answer,” said Sachs, who is also a Crimson executive.

The winners all completed the arduous application process, which includes a Harvard endorsement, a state application, a cocktail party and interviews for regional finalists.

The Rhodes Scholarship, which was established in 1902 by the will of British explorer Cecil Rhodes, is the oldest international study award for American students.

Sachs, a St. Louis native, said that he is looking forward to experiencing British culture, especially after writing his thesis on English commercial law.

Porter said that he decided to apply for the scholarship after hearing great things about Oxford from professors who were former Rhodes Scholars and friends who attend Oxford.

Porter will focus on political theory and hopes to eventually have a career in public policy and service.

“Having grown up in D.C., I experienced politics firsthand and have been enthralled ever since,” he said.

Porter, who now lives in Belmont, said he is still in “disbelief” that he won the renowned scholarship.

Cho echoed Porter’s surprise.

“I never in a million years dreamed this could actually happen,” Cho said. “Rhodes Scholars are those insane, really gifted people and I didn’t think that was me.”

The Tempe, Ariz. native will use the scholarship to pursue a masters of philosophy in developmental studies or economic or social history.

Brown said his mother burst into tears when she found out he had won.

Brown, who took the spring term of his junior year off to live in a refugee camp in Nepal, will work towards a masters in migration and development studies at Oxford.

Cho, whose dad was almost in tears after he told him the good news, said that he feels the honor belongs more to his friends and family than himself.

“It’s not something that I’ve earned,” Cho said. “It’s more of a tribute to people who have helped me along the way.”

Sachs said his parents were elated that he had won.

“They made sure to call my elementary teachers, who all claim to have predicted it way back when,” he said.

Cho said that he did not experience any of the “horror stories” that the Rhodes application process is notorious for, but made many new friends.

Park, from Wheeling, Ill., could not be reached for comment.

Winners of Rhodes scholarships this year were chosen from 925 applicants who came from 319 colleges.

Rhodes selections are made based on academic achievement, as well as personal qualities such as integrity and leadership.

—Staff writer Anne K. Kofol can be reached at kofol@fas.harvard.edu.