USC Alumni Oscar De Los Santos ’15 was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. On Saturday, November 19, 2016, Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, announced the names of the thirty-two American men and women chosen as Rhodes Scholars representing the United States. Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England and may allow funding in some instances for four years. The thirty-two Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from eighteen other jurisdictions around the world.
Oscar De Los Santos graduated from USC in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is the son of Mexican immigrants and first in his family to attend college. Oscar was selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants for a full-tuition USC Norman Topping Scholarship. As a sophomore, he was highly involved with the Obama 2012 reelection campaign, and the impact of his work was so significant that he was one of only six volunteers invited to dine with President Obama in Washington DC. Oscar’s exceptional academic achievements, leadership record, and commitment to public service flourished while at USC, and in 2014, among a national pool of nearly 700 candidates, Oscar was selected as one of fewer than sixty Harry S. Truman Scholars. Oscar graduated in May 2015, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He was selected as a member of the Order of the Laurel and Palm, a USC Global Scholar, and USC Discovery Scholar. Oscar demonstrates an innate drive for community betterment and empathy for underserved communities in his professional career as well, first as a 6th grade English and Social Studies teacher for high-risk youth, and now in his role as an anti-hunger, anti-poverty public policy advocate. With the Rhodes Scholarship he seeks to pursue two one-year courses: the Master of Public Policy and the MSt in Theology, specializing in Christian Ethics.
USC Dornsife News – Oscar De Los Santos ’15 named a 2017 Rhodes Scholar – The young alumnus adds to his growing list of honors and prestigious scholarships, this most recent earning him all-expense-paid graduate study at the University of Oxford.
USC News – Trojan Oscar De Los Santos named Rhodes Scholar
Click here to view profiles of American Rhodes Scholars elect for 2017