A Queen’s University student has been selected as a 2017 Rhodes Scholar, a prestigious scholarship to the University of Oxford worth over $100,000.

Claire Gummo, a Political Studies and Gender Studies student, is the university’s 57th Rhodes Scholar. Ms. Gummo is a recipient of the Queen’s Excellence Scholarship and has been recognized on the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Honour List with Distinction, with grades placing her in the top three per cent of all arts students. She is also an Applebanks Loran Scholar, Canada’s largest scholarship awarded to 30 students each year.

The Calgary native has played a leading role in making the Kingston and Queen’s communities better and safer. Since 2015, she has led a team of students in the delivery of a bystander intervention training program, to mobilize the university community to recognize and prevent sexual violence. More than 2,000 students have received the training since August alone. She is a student representative on the provost's Implementation Team on Prevention and Response to Sexual Violence, as well as the associated working group, where she has assisted in the development of Queen’s sexual violence policy.

At Oxford, her goal is to pursue a Master of Philosophy in Comparative Social Policy.

“Ms. Gummo’s academic career, community service and personal goals, and record of achievement embody the Rhodes Scholar intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service,” says Daniel Woolf, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s. “I have gotten to know Claire personally during her time at Queen’s, owing to her involvement in university policy work. She has distinguished herself through the significant contribution she has made to our community. Having myself gone from Queen’s to Oxford I think she’ll have a fantastic time studying there.”

Ms. Gummo is also a research assistant at the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s and a gender consultant to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

Off campus she has served on the board of the Sexual Health Resource Centre in Kingston and has volunteered at a soup kitchen in France. An avid figure skater, she has coached young skaters in Kingston and Calgary.

The Rhodes Scholarships are considered the oldest and most prestigious international scholarships for outstanding scholars from any academic field of study. Funded by the estate of Cecil J. Rhodes (the Rhodes Trusts), the scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate a strong propensity to emerge as “leaders for the world’s future” and are provided for postgraduate studies or a second bachelor’s degree at Oxford, for two years with the possible extension of a third year.

Each year, 11 Rhodes Scholars are selected from Canada.