E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o te motu e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora tātou katoa.
A very warm welcome to Professor Duncan McGillivray, National Secretary, the Rhodes Trust; Jonathan Good; to fellow members of the interview panel; and of course, to our wonderful Rhodes Scholarship applicants.
My husband Richard and I are delighted to host you this evening. As it happens, Richard is an Oxford alumni – and I am a former academic and Chief Executive of the Royal Society, which administers the Marsden Fund for research in Aotearoa.
I have been privileged to chair the interview panel for the past two years, in accordance with the requirements of the Rhodes Trust Deed, and I am very much looking forward to being part of the process again tomorrow.
Thank you all for putting your name forward for consideration for a Rhodes Scholarship. I am absolutely delighted with the calibre of your applications, as well as your dedication to address pressing issues of our times.
The panel is mindful of our responsibilities to give due consideration to you all, and our decision will not be easy!
Your transcripts, your personal statements, and letters from your referees speak to your outstanding academic abilities, intellectual curiosity, as well as resilience in the face of personal setbacks.
What your applications also reveal is a commendable sense of humanity and social responsibility. To my mind, these qualities are essential components of scholarship. Keep bringing that head and heart to your studies, and you will be effective change-makers in the years ahead.
In my last visit to Oxford University, I caught up with our Rhodes Scholars and was impressed with their enthusiasm. They are proud ambassadors for Aotearoa, and at the same time, are aware of the long line of outstanding scholars that preceded them, and their responsibilities to uphold and contribute to that community of continuity at Oxford.
Thank you for your contributions to scholarship and your communities – for what you have achieved and what you are going to achieve in the years ahead. I am confident you will all go on to do amazing work.
Whether or not you make it through to the final three, you can be incredibly proud to have made it through to the shortlist. We are very much looking forward to meeting you in person and hearing more about your plans.