In defence of the business-minded scholars

Administrators must have breathed a sight of relief. Last month, after a 10-year drought, a Penn student finally won a Rhodes scholarship. Long at last, a Rhodes blossomed from this thorn bush in West Philadelphia. Yet even with this year's success, a larger question remains. Why hasn't the University been more successful in producing winners? Frankly, our record is paltry -- 16 Rhodes winners in 100 years, compared to roughly 300 for Harvard over the same time period. I had the chance to get to know several Rhodes scholars over the past couple years. From my experiences, I observed a few predominant qualities in them: confidence in their unique viewpoints, conviction of character and a persistent curiosity necessary to succeed. Rhodes winners are pretty extraordinary thinkers and doers. But Penn certainly produces people who fit that bill. Similar to any great school, we've yielded a number of exceptional citizens. They possess the same qualities that should have endowed them with an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford. So why have awards such as the Rhodes proven so elusive? Let's give it a guess. Perhaps Penn students are driven primarily by practicality, not academia. Rhodes scholars are quite scholarly; they actively push the envelope in liberal arts and applied sciences. Penn isn't a school driven by academics in the Rhodes sense of the word. And our most popular programs are very contemporary and vocational Few people at Penn would find another three years of intellectual rigor appealing. Rue the day when a Wharton kid wins a Rhodes. Penn's unofficial graduate hall of fame isn't exactly a who's who of intellectuals or public servants. Penn students choose to admire alumni who have been exceptional in entrepreneurial and financial endeavors -- men like Walter Annenberg and Jon Huntsman. Those men mastered a real challenge of our present day: capitalist success. They are scholars of the school of hard knocks, tough-as-nails persistence, revenue and profit. Notably, it's the same school from which Cecil Rhodes, a turn of the century diamond magnate, graduated himself. Simple enough. So it's not the quality of Penn minds, but the lack of breadth in our talents and pursuits. We're too focused on business. From that perspective, it demonstrates our fundamental diversity deficiency. And that, coupled with a belief that the Rhodes is for people who pursue socially minded endeavors, is enough to discourage the most curious and talented of us all. Penn students have always believed that our ambitions aren't becoming, at least in a Rhodes kind of way. Thus, few of us apply. It's demonstrative of our subtle inferiority complex. It feels as if we won't win, that it's impractical, that the cards are stacked against us. Maybe it's not what Penn students are meant to do. We're supposed to be the drivers and executors, the engines under the hood. But I think that our current perception couldn't be farther from the truth. Penn students deserve to win more scholarships, including the Rhodes. It shouldn't matter that some of our brightest students are focused on running mutual funds as opposed to the raising the United Nations human index. In fact, the Rhodes has become a signpost of diversity over the past 25 years. Many Rhodes winners go into business too, because it's a valid extension of their talents. It too is a vehicle for positive change. Importantly, our generation's efforts to shape this world will depend on cooperation between entrepreneurs and philosophers, financiers and politicians, non-profits and for-profits. All those influences must become interconnected at the highest levels of minds and personalities. Loosely speaking, they need one another. The Rhodes is an amazing honor that few of us will ever achieve. But we should start applying in droves because what we do well -- what Penn is historically the best at -- needs a spot at Rhodes Hall.

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