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Two Alumni Named Rhodes Scholars

Next fall, Jisung Park ’04 and Abby Seldin ’05 will head to the University of Oxford in England on Rhodes Scholarships. Rhodes Scholarships fund all educational costs for two to three years of study at Oxford, where Park and Seldin plan to matriculate next fall to obtain their graduate degrees. Seldin, now at the University of Pennsylvania, hopes to acquire her Doctorate of Philosophy in social anthropology and to study secret cultures and subversive objects. Park, now at Columbia University, will research sustainable development, specifically in biodiversity, climate change and deforestation. Thirty-two college students from 16 different regions were awarded Rhodes Scholarships on November 23. Rhodes candidates must be endorsed by their college or university. Park and Seldin were selected from this year’s applicant pool of 769 students endorsed by 207 U.S. colleges and universities. Both recipients credited Andover as a significant experience leading up to their scholarship awards. Park said that the faculty at Andover were “genuinely interested in my well-being…Without that kind of support I know I wouldn’t have gotten the scholarship or be anywhere near here.” Park said that his extracurricular activities at Andover also helped him to launch major projects. Model UN sparked Park’s interest in international relations. He is now double-majoring in political science and economics at Columbia University. Seldin said that her experience at Andover “really guided [her] academic trajectory.” Seldin helped to curate an exhibit featuring items from Pecos Pueblos, New Mexico, in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology. Her work at the Peabody helped Seldin to become the first undergraduate to curate an exhibit at the UPenn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This exhibition, which opened in September, was about the stories of local Native Americans called “Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania.” Park said that he is “incredibly thrilled” but “sad to be leaving.” Seldin said, “I think I’m still in shock.”