Six Harvard students, one from MIT named Rhodes Scholars
The Rhodes Scholars for 2014 include six Harvard University students and one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Virginia-based Rhodes Trust announced Sunday.
The 32 scholars include others with New England ties: one student each from Smith College in Northampton and Williams College in Williamstown; a resident of Milford, N.H.; and three students from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Alexander J. Diaz is one of five Harvard seniors and a graduate who were awarded scholarships. The 21-year-old psychology major is studying under Professor Mahzarin R. Banaji, a specialist in the study of unconscious biases and how they affect behavior.
Diaz said in a phone interview Sunday that he plans to study law and hopes to eliminate disparities in how the US legal system treats people from different ethnic backgrounds.
He is working under US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, he said, to prepare a proposal for US Attorney General Eric Holder that will recommend implementing a test for potential jurors that will help them understand their own biases.
“I think the first step to remove the effects of the biases is to make them aware,’’ Diaz said.
Rhodes Scholarships fund two to four years’ study at the University of Oxford in England and are awarded based on rigorous criteria set by the British colonizer of Africa and philanthropist Cecil Rhodes in his 1902 will. The standards include academic achievement, integrity of character, and potential for leadership.
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