RHODES SCHOLARS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 169, 13 April 1932, Page 8

RHODES SCHOLARS

Selections OXFORD SATISFIED Scheme Quite Justified Dominion Special Service. Auckland, April 12. That New Zealand has sent to Oxford as good a type of Rhodes .Scholar as any other part of the world embraced in the scheme is the considered opinion of Sir Francis Wylie, who for 28 years occupied the position of Oxford secretary to the Rhodes trustees. Sir Francis, accompanied by Lady Wylie, arrived by the Maraina’ this morning from Sydney. His mission is to renew acquaintance with Rhodes Scholars, and to nqike a report on their activities. He intends spending three weeks in New Zealand; he will then go on to Canada. He has spent eleven weeks in South Africa ou his present tour, and nine weeks in Australia. Next year he will visit the United States. Entirely Satisfied. “Oxford is entirely satisfied with New Zealand’s representatives, academically and in other ways,” said Sir Francis. Referring to athletics, he said that in view of the provisions of the . will of Cecil Rhodes it was necessary to pay attention to athletic prowess when selections were made, but only secondary consideration should be given to that side of a student’s qualifications. What had to be taken into account more than anything else, was the influence a man was to exercise in middle life. Athletics certainly had an influence on character, and was a test of robustness,: "but,” he added, “it does not matter much when a man is 45. “Scholastically, Rhodes Scholars have made their mark in the British Empire, and in America,” he said. “In fact, they are a great force (n academic circles in the United States. Probably the most distinguished scholar is Mr. Edwin Powell Hubble, who is distinguished in science. He, is a noted astronomer, and has done much in the field of measuring the distance of stars.” Sir Francis stated that since the inception of the scheme in 1903, between 1600 and 1700 Rhodes Scholars had been sent to Oxford from all parts of the British Empire and the United States; there had been few from Germany. During the war period Germany’s quota had been cancelled, and only recently had it been reinstated. Superficial Criticism. Referring to criticism that young men selected as Rhodes Scholars are lost to the particular, portion of the British Empire that sends them to Oxford, Sir Francis said that normally it was hoped that a scholar would return to the part of the world, whence he came, but there must not be too much rigidity in that respect, as a man might And Imperial service in other parts of the Empire. “My own view is that over the years the scheme has justified itself,” said Sir Francis “There has been criticism at times that Rhodes Scholars are not in positions of greitt political importance, but that is rather superficial criticism. The great majority of the scholars are still young men with their own careers to make, and it would not be desirable that they should be entering politics as a means of making a livelihood. From that point of view the criticism is premature. We must wait a few years yet.” OXFORD’S INFLUENCE Education in United States During the course of the proceedings of the conference of secondary education boards yesterday, the chairman, Dr. G. E. Thompson, of the Otago College Board of Governors, referred to his visit to America last year. Dr, Thompson, said he visited several of the more important American universities, and he was much struck with the extent to which the influence of Oxford University, brought back to America by returning Rhodes Scholars, had spread throughout all the major universities In the United States, particularly the Oxford tutorial system. In many universities honours schools were set up on the model of the English universities.