To Rhodes or not to Rhodes?
That was the question for Raphael Graybill, CC ’10.
Upon hearing from Rhodes this weekend that he had won the coveted scholarship, Graybill faced a tough but enviable choice between a Rhodes or Marshall Scholarship.
In a Sunday evening interview, Graybill said he plans to accept the Rhodes. “It’s a huge honor and it’s great to be able to get it for Columbia,” Graybill said. “But I think that the reason why you see so many successful Rhodes scholars is not because of the Rhodes Scholarship, but because smart, capable, driven people tend to apply for it, and those that get it, they don’t give up after they’ve gotten it.”
The announcement of Rhodes winners on Saturday marked the third consecutive year that a Columbia student received the prestigious award that brings recipients to the University of Oxford. Last year, Jisung Park, CC ’09, won the Rhodes, as did Jason Bello and George Olive, both CC ’08, the year before.
Columbia’s recent winning streak comes on the heels of a five-year drought. Associate Dean of Fellowship Programs and Study Abroad Michael Pippenger attributed Columbia’s recent good fortune to an increase in student interest and faculty participation in the scholarship process.
“We’ve been really fortunate, first off, in that we’ve had students who are eager to take the risk and to put themselves out there and try to achieve their goals,” Pippenger said. “And I think also we’ve been very fortunate because we really had a huge increase in the number of faculty who have been involved in the process.”
Graybill was one of 18 applicants and eight finalists from Columbia for the Rhodes Scholarship, and one of 24 Columbia applicants and four finalists for the Marshall scholarship, which funds two years of study in any United Kingdom university. One of the other three finalists still awaits a decision.
At Oxford, Graybill will pursue an M.Phil. in political theory. “I’m interested in media and politics, and how information and the proliferation of information through media changes the way that people approach politics,” Graybill said.
At Columbia, Graybill was the captain of the Ski and Snowboard Racing Club and currently serves on the Club Sports Governing Board. He worked for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last summer on health care reform, represented “Montana for Barack Obama” at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, and continues to work for the New York Police Department as an auxiliary officer.
Pippenger praised Graybill for his many accomplishments and modest personality.
“He has shown his leadership in a whole host of ways, both in the classroom and out,” Pippenger said. “He’s really a terrific ambassador for Columbia students.”
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