Fairfax Woman Named Rhodes Scholar

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax's Simone M. Askew, a senior at the U.S. Military Academy, has been named a Rhodes Scholar — one of 32 Americans so honored. They were chosen from a pool of 866 candidates endorsed by their colleges or universities, and the scholars will begin courses at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2018. The Americans will join an international group of scholars chosen from 64 different countries.

Askew is the first black woman in the institution's 215-year history to have been elevated to West Point's top leadership post: Brigade Commander of the U.S. Corps of Cadets. She's responsible for the development and performance of 4,400 cadets.

Her undergraduate thesis focused on the use of rape as a tool of genocide and mass atrocity. At Oxford, she will read for an M.Sc. in evidence-based social intervention.

Applicants are selected on the basis of academic excellence but that is only describe as a threshold condition. Scholars should also have "great personal energy, ambition for impact and should be committed to make a difference in the world" among other things.

You can see the full list of American scholars here.

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