GSAS Student Tolmie Is Awarded Canadian Rhodes

Jane M. Tolmie, a third year doctoral student in English from Halifax, Canada, became the sixth Harvard student this year to win a Rhodes scholarship when she clinched one of two awards given in the Maritime region of Canada on December 13.

Joseph C. Harris, professor of English and folklore, who has worked extensively with Tolmie her studies, said he was not astonished by her win.

"I wasn't surprised because I saw it coming," he said. "There's this quality of inner, banked fire--some controlled passion which is part of her personality. And she has an absolutely splendid record."

All Rhodes scholarship winners undertake study for two years at no cost in the program of their choice at Oxford University in England.

Tolmie said she plans to take a leave of absence to attend Oxford, where she intends to work toward another masters degree in philosophy and continue her doctoral research.

According to Cynthia E. Verba, director of fellowships at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), Tolmie is the only student from GSAS to apply for and win the Rhodes in recent memory.

"She should be singled out as a pioneer," Verba said.

In contrast, Verba said that GSAS students have traditionally applied for a graduate student version of the Fulbright scholarship and for fellowships which specifically allow for dissertation research. She said more than 30 GSAS students applied this year for the Fulbright award.

Verba said it was unusual for a student already doing graduate work at Harvard to apply to do more graduate work at Oxford.

Still, she said Tolmie's ability to immerse herself in research at Oxford will be very valuable.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity," Verba said. "A year in the U.K. is a highly coveted thing to have for people who are doing English lit."

Tolmie, in contrast, attributed the lack of GSAS Rhodes applicants to the fact that many grad students are too old to meet the requirement that recipients be 19 to 25 years old. Tolmie herself is 23.

While also interested in applying for the Fulbright, she was ineligible for the scholarship because she is Canadian and the award is only given to American students.

However, Tolmie said that after seven years of study in the United States, she was ready for a change of scenery.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing something new," she said.

Candidates for the Rhodes are judged on their academic record, community service involvement and athletics.

At Yale University, where Tolmie spent 4 years, she earned both her bachelors' and a masters' degree in English. She also headed the university's chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

In addition to serving as a NOW liaison at Harvard, she also volunteers for a women's shelter in Cambridge.

Tolmie is an accomplished athlete in the martial arts, having earned the highest level within karate's brown belt category.

She and another graduate student at the Divinity School head the Harvard Karate Club, where she teaches karate to other students.

Tolmie said she used her experience as an instructor of the martial arts to guide herself through the Rhodes examination.

"I went into the exam very aggressively, in the same way I do when I'm teaching karate," she said.

Chair of the English Department Leo Damrosch, who is also Bernbaum professor of literature, said that he had been very impressed by Tolmie's performance in her graduate oral exam.

"She seemed to me an ideal candidate [for the Rhodes]," he said.

Still, Harris said that when he first heard about Tolmie's award, he was concerned for Harvard.

"My first thought was the fear that Harvard will lose her to Oxford," he said.

However, Tolmie said that he has no reason to worry.

"I'm pretty sure that I'll come back," she said.

Tolmie's honor came one week after the announcement of the five other award designees from Harvard. Four of those recipients were undergraduates from America, and the fifth was a Canadian graduate student at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Each year, a total of 11 Canadian Rhodes scholarships are awarded independently by region.