ATLANTA, December 2003— Morehouse senior Oluwabusaya “Topé” Folarin has been named a Rhodes Scholar for the class of 2004. He is one of 32 Americans chosen to study abroad for two years at Oxford University in England. Folarin, a native of Grand Prairie, Texas, was among 963 applicants evaluated by several regional committees.

Folarin plans to study international relations or development studies while at Oxford. He hopes to one day work for the United Nations. The political science major currently has a grade-point average of 3.9 and expects to graduate from Morehouse in May. He was the only student from a Georgia college or university selected to receive the grant.

“We could not be more proud that Tope has been selected as a Rhodes Scholar,” said Dr. Walter E. Massey, president of Morehouse College. “This achievement is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of this fine young man and the preparation he has received at Morehouse.”

The Rhodes Scholarship was created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners of the scholarship are selected based on high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.

“Students engage in a rigorous preparation process,” said Dr. Anne Winbush Watts, associate vice president for academic affairs. Watts oversees a special program at Morehouse that prepares students for competitive scholarship and fellowship programs such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Luard and others. Watts said: “The program gives students guidance and enables them to write strong personal statements and policy statements, as well as sharpen their ability to reason critically and analytically in response to probing questions during mock interview sessions.”

Folarin is the third Morehouse student to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. In 1993, the College was the first Historically Black College or University to have a Rhodes Scholar when Nima Warfield was awarded the honor. In 2001 Christopher Elders became the College’s second Rhodes Scholar. This year, the choice of Folarin puts Morehouse ahead of all other HBCU’s as the top producer of Rhodes Scholars.

Folarin is expected to begin his studies at Oxford next October.

Ranked the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, and recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top feeder schools for the 15 most prominent graduate and professional schools in the country, Morehouse College is the nation’s largest, private liberal arts college for men. The College offers 26 majors in three academic divisions: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Mathematics, and Business and Economics.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Sheldon “Spike” Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, founder of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta.

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