Ex-Hicksville HS Grad Named 2021 Rhodes Scholar

HICKSVILLE, NY — A Long Island native and student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars in the United States. Danielle Grey-Stewart, of Westbury, was named a Rhodes Scholar on Saturday.

Grey-Stewart, who was named an AP Scholar with Distinction at Hicksville High School three years ago, is a senior at MIT majoring in materials science and engineering, according to her Rhodes Scholar profile. She's a materials scientist with a passion for social justice. She's also a student leader at MIT’s Center for Public Service, serves as the chair of the Undergraduate Association Committee on COVID-19, and serves on the Student Advisory Group for Engineering.

Grey-Stewart said she plans to have a career that will "responsibly use the elegance of engineering to address the immense inequity" in society, and integrate historically ignored perspectives into science policy. At the University of Oxford, she plans to pursue an M.Phil. in nature, society, and environmental governance.

She told Newsday she recently traveled to the Navajo Nation to research environmental racism and how certain issues disproportionately affect specific communities.

"It's really important that when finding engineering solutions you can connect with communities and really engage them and uplift them as equal thought partners in finding solutions to really pervasive problems," she said.

She joins a unique class, one that became the first-ever to be elected "entirely virtually, with both candidates and selectors participating safely, independently and digitally," Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said in a news release. It was also one marked by its diversity of candidates.

"Twenty-two of the 32 are students of color; ten are Black, equal to the greatest number ever elected in one year in the United States. Nine are first-generation Americans or immigrants; and one is a Dreamer with active DACA status. Seventeen of the winners are women, 14 are men, and one is non-binary," Gerson said.

The winners will go to Oxford in the fall of 2021 to study in fields such as social, biological and physical sciences, humanities and public policy.

"They are leaders already, and we are confident that their contributions to public welfare globally will expand exponentially over the course of their careers," Gerson said.

The Rhodes Scholarships covers all expenses for up to four years of study at Oxford in England, which is ranked the top university in the world in some global rankings. The Scholarships were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen through a two-stage process. Applicants must be endorsed by their college or university. This year, more than 2,300 students started the application process and over 950 were endorsed by 288 different colleges and universities. Selection committees for the 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to appear virtually before them for an interview.

Applicants are chosen based on criteria set down in the Will of Cecil Rhodes, such as academic excellence, a great ambition to make an impact, great promise of leadership and an ability to work with others and achieve goals. Rhodes Scholars also have to commit to making a strong difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be acutely conscious of inequities.

"In short, we seek outstanding young people of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service." Gerson said. "These basic characteristics are directed at fulfilling Mr. Rhodes’s hopes that the Rhodes Scholars would make an important and positive contribution throughout the world. In Rhodes’s words, his Scholars should 'esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim.'"

With the latest winners, 3,548 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 326 colleges and universities. Women have been eligible to apply since 1976. About 600 American women have won the scholarship.

The total value of the scholarship averages about $70,000 a year, but can equal up to about $250,000 for scholars who stay at Oxford for four years in some departments