Meet 2025's Rhodes Scholars

A group of 32 American students have been selected to attend the University of Oxford as part of the prestigious Rhodes scholar program in an international class representing more than 70 nations, reports the AP. The program provides scholarships covering all expenses at England's storied university. Nearly 3,000 US students applied to pursue graduate degrees beginning in October 2025, the Office of the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust in McLean, Virginia, said Sunday. Some of the recipients:

• Stanford University amateur boxer Kate Tully from Sacramento, California, is completing a political science degree and mentors at-risk debate students. Fellow Stanford student Francesca Fernandes of Saratoga, California, has taught physics to local high school students, sings soprano in an a cappella group, and is an actor with the Stanford Asian American Theater Project.
• At Brown University, Ariana Palomo of McKinney, Texas, works at its Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, and her research interests include immigration policy. She is lead violinist for Rhode Island's only mariachi group.
• Luiza Diniz Vilanova has a political science degree from Columbia University, is CEO of Tocando em Frente, the Brazilian group working to keep kids from dropping out of school. She also serves on an international youth council for the UN agency for children.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology senior David Oluigbo has volunteered at a brain research institute and the National Institutes of Health, researching artificial intelligence in health care while also serving as an EMT. He's also "DJ Chidi," performing in shows in all genres of music, including a Halloween funk night.
• Paras Bassuk has published research on child development while studying psychology at the University of Iowa and serving as a local LGBTQ+ leader and with two transgender rights groups. They also are a jazz drummer, bass guitarist, and classical bassist.

• Pepperdine senior Sean Wu from Chino Hills, California, is majoring in computer science and mathematics who also plays the tuba in the university orchestra. His research has focused on machine learning and medicine.
• Eastern Mennonite student, Meredith Lehman, of Dover, Ohio, has done research on cancer drugs funded by the National Science Foundation while majoring in biology and political science. She's also active in the Virginia Young Democrats and provides legal services to asylum seekers.
• Four recipients are from the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. Sarah Cao, from Plymouth, Minnesota, is part of a collegiate skydiving championship team. Gabriella Sorrentino, of Monroe, New Jersey, is a member of West Point's boxing team and a philosophy and American history major whose research is due to appear in an upcoming book about West Point's first Black graduate.
• Coe College student Katherine Ameku, of Independence, Missouri, is a senior majoring in mathematics and statistics who is also Missouri's youngest elected official. She serves as a Democratic precinct committee member.
• Davidson College student Madeline Dierauf, a senior from Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, hosts weekly arts events on campus and has researched musical folk traditions. She's also a professional fiddler and bluegrass musician.

(More Rhodes scholar stories.)