Chris Joseph Wins Rhodes Scholarship
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 23, 2008 12:21 PM PST
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PrintWhile he is no longer playing football, I figured this would be something of interest. Former football player Chris Joseph won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Scholarship is given to 32 students each year and provides the opportunity for those students to study for 2 or 3 years at Oxford in England.
Joseph started for two seasons at offensive guard before moving to center for his senior season (2007). A two-time first-team Academic All-American, he graduated in June of 2008 with a 3.95 grade-point average. He majored in Geography with a focus on the complex social and scientific causes of deforestation. At Oxford, he plans to do his Masters of Philosophy in Geography.
The final interview process, which took place Saturday, was an all-day process. You can read about Joseph's account of the process here. The candidates began the interview process at 8:45 am and did not find out the results until 9:30 pm.
"We sat in that room until 9:30 pm, when the committee members came into the room. We all stood in a circle and the committee members thanked us for our participation and then announced the two recipients. The first was Scott Hugo, who also goes to UCLA. Then they announced my name. I was stunned. It took about 10-15 seconds for me to realize they had said my name.
This is an amazing accomplishment and it's great to see Joseph rewarded for his hard work in the class room. It's also great to see Hugo, who has ties to UCLA athletics, rewarded as well.
In addition, Scott Hugo, a UCLA senior majoring in Political Science and History, is also a Rhodes Scholar recipient. He is a starter on the UCLA rugby club team and is a junior member of Phi Beta Kappa. He will pursue his Masters of Philosophy in International Relations.
Congratulations to both of them and best of luck in England. Once again we see that UCLA is where champions are made, on and off the field.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Freaking Awesome!
That is a great achievement – congrats to both. Myron Rolle of Florida State also was also awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.
by McNown to Farmer on Nov 23, 2008 1:36 PM PST reply actions
Rolle
It really makes me happy that he won it. With all the turmoil surrounding the FSU program, it’s great to see him do something this great off the field. Bobby Bowden really does his best to do the right thing with his program; he never hesitates to punish someone for messing up – even a star player. I’m glad to see his program rewarded. Congrats to all 3 of these guys.
by bucknellbruin on Nov 23, 2008 2:32 PM PST up reply actions
Rolle was all over the paper here in Tampa
Coach Bowden let him miss the beginning of the Maryland game to go to the Rhodes Scholarship business. After the announcement, he took a charter flight back (and this was only after FSU checked with the ncaa to make sure it was OK) and he got into the game in the second quarter.
I don’t know much about the guy, but he sounds like a really stand up guy. And good for Coach Bowden for having his priorities straight.
there's been tons of national media too
there have been stories on ESPN and si.com for a few weeks. A guy on SI.com wrote a really long story about his experience yesterday. It was a great read…here’s the link if anyone’s interested: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/andy_staples/11/23/rolle.rhodes/index.html
by bucknellbruin on Nov 23, 2008 6:12 PM PST up reply actions
New recruiting channel for talent from England!
Wow, two Rhodes Scholarships this year! I hope CRN will highlight this success in his press conferences and on-the-field interviews. (Incidentally, FSU has a front-page story about Myron Rolle’s scholarship, whereas when I checked tonight, UCLA’s home page and notoriously clueless communications department had no news about the Bruins’ awards). Our guys will have an enriching and inspiring time across the pond…and maybe they can recruit some stud offensive linemen and rugby players from England to UCLA. : ) Let’s open up the English-rugby-to-American-football-star channel between Oxford and Westwood!
Casey Gerald
Congrats to joseph, rolle, and also casey gerard, a yale cornerback who also interviewed a couple days ago and was awarded a rhodes scholarship as well…oddly enough there were 3 football players to win it this year, that’s got to be some kind of record.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112004060.html?hpid=topnews
Anybody in intercollegiate sports not inspired by Rolle’s story should be kept away from students who also are athletes. Yale’s Gerald has it slightly easier this weekend. Because his interview is today, one would think the Bulldogs would make every effort to get the senior defensive back to start his 30th consecutive game, especially because it’s the season finale against rival Harvard. Gerald’s story, in some ways, is even more poignant. He was raised by his grandmothers and sister because his parents were drug addicts. He already has decided he would use his year at Oxford to study impoverished nations and recently quoted Theodore Roosevelt in USA Today, saying, “If you fail, better to fail while daring greatly.”
I'm happy for Rolle, but
I’d really like to see some press for the UCLA guys. Rolle made the NY Times, not for the first time, and the kid from Yale the Washington Post, and God bless them both. But if we don’t see something about our Rhodes winners out of the Bruin press office (do you read this, Marc Dellins?) or the LA Times, I think we should take the initiative and get the word out.
Article on the UCLA athletics website
http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112308aaa.html
one reason there’s not as much coverage is joseph isn’t playing ball anymore
I guess joseph also didnt want the publicity
“I want to thank everyone that has helped me reach this point. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my coaches and the athletic department staff at UCLA who put a premium on the student experience and also wrote letters of support, as well as all of my professors and the staff at the Honors Department at UCLA. I also appreciate the athletic department honoring my request to keep the information about my progress out of the news until after the selection process was complete.”
by jtthirtyfour on Nov 24, 2008 6:42 AM PST up reply actions
Geography major
For those who aren’t aware, Geography has become an amazingly complicated and diverse interdisciplinary curriculum combining biology, ecology, political science, sociology, economics, and other disciplines, and is a hugely important field in today’s world. UCLA geography professor Jared Diamond won a Pulitzer Prize for Guns, Germs, & Steel. That, and his follow-up, Collapse, are must-reads for everyone.
Huge props to our two Bruin Rhodes scholars and their future efforts.
(unneeded disclaimer – I was NOT a geography major)
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Diamond is amazing
Everyone should at least read a summary for Guns, Germs & Steel. His theories very interesting and give you a reason for why western Europe has dominated history.
by WestsideBrandon on Nov 24, 2008 6:24 PM PST up reply actions
I cannot encourage
any current students enough to take his class. Please do so if you are still at UCLA. Pepper your curriculum with a class from Chuck Young as well, and you’ll have studied under the tutelage of some of the best professor’s in the U.S. today.
Most importantly, do not take classes just because they are easy. Please do feel robbed if you take a class from which you walk away with only an A.
This is great stuff.
I don’t know much about the Rhodes Scholarships, but I’m venturing to say that one university having two students receive them is a pretty big deal. UCLA is a great all-around university and its stories like this that make me love it. It needs more publicity. GO BRUINS.
by WestsideBrandon on Nov 24, 2008 6:25 PM PST reply actions
Yet another
Scott Hugo, a UCLA student from the S.F. Bay area, landed a Rhodes scholarship, too. Hugo plays flanker on the UCLA rugby team. There was a nice (and humorous) story in the S.F. Chronicle by Steve Rubenstein.
Guess I should read
the whole post before trying to add to it. Oh well, the Steve Rubenstein link is worth the read.
It's quite incredible that UCLA
has two Rhodes scholars this year. Scott is an incredibly bright and intellectually curious guy and will represent our community well. I am confident the same applies for Chris
The good news is that this further solidifies UCLA’s brand as an absolute academic juggernaut. While growing up I had several “UCLA” sweat-shirts without knowing what this (phonetically) “UKLA” was… genius branding and evidence of UCLA’s international appeal.
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