Rhodes Scholar

Jesse J. Spikes, a senior from McDonough, Georgia, has been named a Rhodes Scholar, one of 32 American winners this year and the 46th Dartmouth man in history to be so honored.

The scholarships, established under the will of the late Cecil John Rhodes, provide for two years' study at Oxford University, with a third year optional if the scholar wishes it and the trustees judge his work worthy.

Spikes graduated in 1968 from Hanover High School, where he was part of the first group of ABC students in the public school program. "A Better Chance" was initiated at Dartmouth in 1963 to help prepare for college secondary school students of great promise who have been handicapped by environment or minority status. Spikes spent his first two secondary-school years at Westside High School in McDonough before he was selected for the ABC program.

Last summer he was one of 19 undergraduate tutors at Dartmouth helping 130 secondary school pupils from 26 states improve their basic skills in mathematics, English, and reading in an intensive six-weeks, program before they entered college preparatory courses in public and private schools.

Spikes, a former English honors major, was elected last year as one of four student members of the College Committee on Standing and Conduct, the faculty-administration-student group responsible for judging alleged student violations of college regulations or academic standards. He is a member of the Afro-American Society and a varsity letterman in track.

Spikes is in Kenya for the winter term on an independent study project. He is reading the literature of Central and East Africa and taking courses in African languages at University College, Nairobi. On an earlier terra abroad, he spent his freshman spring in France under the Foreign Language Program.

The competition the latest Dartmouth Rhodes Scholar faced was the heaviest in the 67-year history of the award. A total of 721 candidates from 236 colleges and universities was the highest number ever recommended for consideration. Rhodes Scholarships are awarded on a regional basis, four from each of eight U. S. districts. Spikes was a candidate from New Hampshire.

Thomas M. Mikula, current director of the national public school ABC program and former director of ABC's Hanover residence, had this to say of Spikes' honor: "In winning this award Jesse Spikes dramatizes what this program demonstrates to us every day. that there are many young people in this country who merit a better chance and who make the most of the. opportunity."

Jesse J. Spikes '72