Rhodes on the rise around the world
Two of the annual crop of nine South Africans chosen to go to Oxford on Rhodes Scholarships later this year have recently been accused of hypocrisy by accepting the scholarships despite their involvement in the Rhodes Must Fall movement which erupted at the University of Cape Town in 2015 (UCT).
They will no doubt survive the accusations, although South African universities may not cope so easily with the damage done to their financial well-being as a result of decisions taken by their administrations and by Jacob Zuma's government in their efforts to appease the militant students involved in the movement.
The Rhodes Scholarships, operating since 1903, meanwhile grow from strength to strength whatever anyone at UCT or anyone else in South Africa might think of the man who founded them. In its most recent annual report, the Rhodes Trust says that as of 30th June last year its "endowment assets" were worth almost £248 million, up by £60 million from the previous year. That is an increase of almost 33%.
Part of the reason for this dramatic growth is that the trust recently secured a donation of £25 million from Atlantic Philanthropies, following an earlier injection of £50 million by a former Canadian Rhodes Scholar from Quebec, John McCall MacBain, who is described as the "second century founder".
Funds have also been donated by more than half of all living Rhodes Scholars in constituencies that include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Germany, Singapore, Bermuda, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Jamaica, Malaysia, Ireland, Pakistan, Botswana, Hong Kong, and South Africa.