Webb alumnus Oates, 2019, going to Oxford: Rhodes Scholar
Jonathan Oates, Webb School of Knoxville Class of 2019 alumnus, is among the 32 from the United States who have won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships for study next year at the University of Oxford, England.
“Oates, a senior at Yale University’s Silliman College, will join an international group of scholars chosen from more than 60 countries around the world for graduate study at Oxford, beginning in October 2023,” a Webb press release stated. “More than 100 Rhodes Scholars will be selected worldwide this year.
“Awarded by the Rhodes Trust, the Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world and provides all expenses for two or three years of study at Oxford,” the release further stated.
“This year’s Rhodes Scholars were selected from a pool of 840 applicants who were nominated by their colleges and universities. Scholars are chosen for academic excellence, a commitment to making a positive difference in the world, a concern for the welfare of others, a consciousness of inequities and their promise of leadership.”
Oates is majoring in political science at Yale with interests in democratic theory, justice, equality and political reform. “His senior thesis explores the relationship between democracy, equality and dynamics of exclusion through the lens of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” the release stated
“He has worked extensively with the Yale College Council as a senator and executive board member and has served as co-president of the Silliman Activities and Administrative Committee,” the release also stated. “In addition, Oates served as a Residential College Team director and is enrolled in the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, a yearlong course available to Yale undergraduate and graduate students that addresses large-scale, long-term strategic challenges of statecraft, politics and social change.”
Oates is the recipient of multiple college awards in recognition of his leadership, including Yale’s John C. Schroeder Award, given to students who have contributed to residential college life and in recognition of the student’s scholarship and character.
