The first Bangladeshi American Rhodes scholar!

Bangladeshis have some wonderful news to celebrate. Kazi Sabeel Rahman, a senior at Harvard University, has become the first American of Bangladeshi heritage to win the most prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to continue his education at Oxford University, UK. For those who do not know what a Rhodes scholarship is, it is simply the world's oldest and the most coveted international graduate scholarship. The writer ought to know: he was lucky to be the first "East Pakistani" to win Pakistan's only Rhodes Scholarship after some grueling interview sessions at Lahore's Catholic School in December 1970. Born in Roosevelt Island, New York City in 1983 and raised in Dhaka, Bangkok and New York, Sabeel is the youngest of the three children of Feni's Mr. Kazi Afzalur Rahman, formerly a diplomat with Pakistan and Bangladesh foreign service and currently a Senior Economic Affairs Analyst at the United Nations Secretariat in New York and Mrs. Shegufta Rahman, a descendant of the highly distinguished and well-known Majamder family of Mozumdari, Sylhet.

Rhodes scholarship, "the apex, the Mount Olympus of all awards," is the legacy of the 19th century British colonialist and diamond baron Cecil Rhodes, who had won a royal charter to administer a territory that was eventually named after him, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Rhodes believed in the supremacy of the white race and dreamed of a trans-African railway line joining Cairo with Cape Town. Some modern day Rhodes scholars are embarrassed at Cecil Rhodes' colonial past. It is easy to criticise Rhodes one hundred and three years after his death. In many ways Rhodes was actually ahead of his time. In his will, Rhodes stipulated that the scholarship bearing his name be awarded to "gentlemen" of any race, religion or national origin. Rhodes wanted promising young men of the British Commonwealth and the English-speaking world to be trained at Oxford so that they could return to their homelands and become leaders. Cecil Rhodes awarded two scholarships to non-English speaking Germany only because Kaiser Wilhelm was a friend of his! The scholarship is not awarded to British nationals. Originally, the scholarship was open only to men. During the writer's tenure in the early 1970s, resident Rhodes Scholars at Oxford began a petition campaign to open the scholarship to women. This led to the British parliament's modifying of Cecil Rhodes' will to allow women to compete for the scholarship. The first women Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1977.

Academic excellence is not enough to win the Rhodes Scholarship. Successful candidates are expected to excel in four different categories: literary and scholastic achievements; energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports; truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship; and moral force of character and instincts to lead and take an interest in one's fellow beings. Sabeel has always been an A to A+ student in both High School and college. Teachers always recommended Sabeel for "double promotion," which his parents resisted. All his High School teachers hoped that he would specialise in their subject area in college. In his SAT I, SAT IIs and AP Examinations, Sabeel recorded perfect scores in Verbal, Writing, Math IIc, Physics B, Physics C, Calculus, American History, French Language, French Literature and English Literature!

Sabeel also has a glittering array of achievements in extracurricular activities. Between February 2002 and October 2003, Sabeel was the Senior Editor of Harvard International Review, a quarterly international relations journal with a circulation of 30,000 in 75 countries. From his freshman to junior year Sabeel was a member of Harvard's Mozart Society Orchestra, playing the clarinet. From May 2002 to present Sabeel is a Tutor at Harvard Writing Centre, instructing undergraduates in essay writing, revision and conceptual development. In 2002 Sabeel was the Director of Harvard's Model United Nations team, organising and directing committee sessions and authoring essays on international affairs. In the summer of 2002, Sabeel was an intern at the International Crisis Group, an international and public policy advocacy group, United Nation liaison office, where he researched funding prospects, produced publicity materials and brochures. And in the summer of 2003, Sabeel was a Research Assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, conducting research, data collection, statistical analyses and mathematical modeling to assess the impact of South Korean trade policy on economic development.

Thus far, Sabeel has won eight awards and grants from Harvard University. With one of those, Sabeel spent the summer of 2004 at Bangladesh's biggest non-governmental organisation (NGO), Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), researching and writing a working paper on social capital, collective action, and the role of BRAC. Sabeel's field of specialisation at Harvard is Social Studies, an honours only concentration. Sabeel's thesis, based on fieldwork conducted at BRAC, examines the role of the NGO sector in Bangladesh's economic and political development since 1992. Specifically, Sabeel evaluates the impact that NGO-led development projects are having on Bangladeshi political landscape. Sabeel believes that his strong commitment to social justice and development -- evidenced by his course of study at Harvard and fieldwork in Bangladesh -- contributed significantly to his winning the Rhodes scholarship. At Oxford, Sabeel hopes to pursue a 1-year M.Sc. course in Economics for Development and before deciding what to do with his second year.

American Rhodes Scholarship candidates apply to their colleges for nomination in early September of their senior year. The colleges nominate the strongest candidates at the end of September for the national competition. Nominated candidates then apply to the national Rhodes scholarship competition in early October. The State Committee informs the successful candidates in early November and schedules interviews for them in mid-November. The surviving state candidates are then called for District level interviews (New York candidates are interviewed with Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware candidates) before the winners are announced at the end of November.

Rhodes scholarships are worth $35,000 a year for two to three years of study exclusively at Oxford University in the UK. Out of about 95 Rhodes scholars every year, 32 are from the US. The competition for the scholarship, among America's cream of the crop, is intense. Many US colleges have set up committees to win Rhodes scholarships. Rhodes scholarships add prestige to a college, enhance its ranking and result in an instant increase in alumni contributions! There have been 3046 US Rhodes scholars (1794 are living) from 307 colleges. Sabeel's Harvard leads with 313 winners, followed by Yale's 208. Georgetown University graduate William Jefferson Clinton is the only Rhodes Scholar to have been elected America's President. There have been several Rhodes Scholar Senators (such as Bradley, Feingold, Sarbanes and Lugar), Congressmen, and Supreme Court justices (such as, David Souter). In June 1993, there was a reunion of Rhodes Scholars residing in America in Washington, DC's Georgetown University. President Clinton did not come to Georgetown; however, when the British Embassy hosted a reception for all the Rhodes Scholars, President Clinton showed up and complained that he had not yet used his third Rhodes year at Oxford! Rhodes Scholars have also been the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Australia.

Regardless of their party affiliations, the writer has found all Rhodes Scholars to be exceedingly enlightened. During the June 1993 reunion, the writer had a long and satisfying chat on the burning issue of the day -- Bosnia -- with the Republican Senator from Indiana, Richard Lugar, who currently heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Only one Rhodes Scholar has ever disappointed the writer. During one session of the June 1993 reunion the writer found himself sitting next to a gentleman who was introduced as the Director of the CIA, Mr. Robert J. Woolsey. After he left the CIA, Mr. Woolsey became a neoconservative and is ubiquitous on television these days saying the most awful things about Islam and the Muslims, something quite unbecoming of a Rhodes Scholar!

Firsts are not at all uncommon in one of Bangladesh's most distinguished families, the Rahman family of Feni. While Sabeel's father reached the upper echelon of Foreign Service and his uncle Mr. Kazi Golam Rahman, reached the top of Bangladesh's police service, Sabeel's eldest uncle, Mr. Kazi Fazlur Rahman, is a real genius. Mr. Kazi Fazlur Rahman stood third in the Matriculation Examination in the (undivided India) Calcutta Board in 1947 and in 1956 stood first in the Central Superior Service (CSS) examination of Pakistan. An intellectual and a prolific writer, Mr. Kazi Fazlur Rahman, now retired, served in the top posts of the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh and was a member of Bangladesh's first caretaker government in 1991. Mr. Kazi Fazlur Rahman, the writer's uncle, is not only the inspiration behind the success of the Rahman clan as represented by the stunning achievements of the writer's kid cousin, Sabeel, he has always been the only role model for writer's family as well. With Sabeel's outstanding performance in America, chalk up another HUGE FIRST for the much maligned, yet secretly envied and revered Feni/Noakhali region of Bangladesh! One of Sabeel's teachers once commented, "I should like to know what Sabeel is doing at forty." One can be reasonably certain that nineteen years from now Sabeel will be scoring another first!