MSMS 2012 graduate Ericka Wheeler is both MSMS’s first Rhodes Scholar and the first African American female from Mississippi to win the scholarship. The Rhodes Trust issued a press release on Oct. 21 that elated and filled members of the MSMS community with pride. The recognition as a 2015 Rhodes Scholar earns Wheeler the opportunity to study a graduate-level course of her choice at Oxford University.

“She was the type of student who took full advantage of every opportunity here at MSMS,” said Emma Richardson, who taught Wheeler both University English II and Creative Writing I and also worked with her as work service student. Richardson first heard of Wheeler’s recognition during Thanksgiving break. “It was no surprise to me that she was named a Rhodes Scholar,” she said.

Wheeler is one of 32 American college students admitted through the two-stage application process for the Rhodes Scholarship. The process begins in July when applicants can seek nomination from their respective college or university. During the 2015 competition, 869 American students were nominated by 316 institutions across the nation. Institution-endorsed applicants are then selected by district-based committees for further interviews and evaluations. Selection throughout the entire application process is driven by the characteristics of a Rhodes Scholar laid out in the will of Cecil Rhodes, founder and original financier of the scholarship in 1902.

Created to encourage intellectual growth and opportunity while emphasizing global awareness, Rhodes specified certain characteristics for students pursuing the scholarship.  While exhibiting academic excellence, “a Rhodes Scholar should also have great personal energy, ambition for impact and an ability to work with others and to achieve one’s goals,” according to the official press release. Following in its founder’s personal belief in peaceful global interconnectedness, the scholarship also seeks students who are “committed to make a strong difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be conscious of inequities.”  More information about the scholarship can be found at http://www.rhodesscholar.org/.

Throughout her academic career, Wheeler exhibited many of these listed characteristics, earning her designation of a Rhodes Scholar. Before coming to MSMS, Wheeler attended Greenwood High School, following in the footsteps of her older siblings who also graduated from MSMS.  

“She was an excellent, top notch student,” said Richardson. “She was quiet and dignified in the classroom; when she spoke it counted. She was really serious about her studies and had high expectations of herself.” When remembering Wheeler’s senior research paper on Life of Pi, Richardson said Wheeler was “one of very few students with a flawless research paper.”

Wheeler is now a pre-medicine student majoring in both history and English at Millsaps College in Jackson. Her Rhodes Scholar profile positively notes her honors thesis, “Crime, Race and Police Brutality through Historical Fiction,” which is “a fictional book about historical events from the 1930s to the present dealing with police brutality and racism,” according to the Wheeler.  She is president of the Millsaps College Intercultural Student Organization and co-president of the college’s Gospel Choir. Aligning with her interests in medicine, Wheeler also actively advocates for Alzheimer’s disease awareness.

“Learning new methods of attacking health, and not just simply going to medical school, but looking at it from all different perspectives because of where I am from,” said Wheeler in an interview with MSMS Public Relations. “I really want to attack these issues from multiple points, and I felt that medical anthropology with my humanities background is just one more thing that I can add to try to start making a difference in my community and in Mississippi.”

A full version of Wheeler’s interview, including her plans and recognition can be found at The Brainstorm.

Wheeler plans to earn a master’s degree in medical anthropology during her Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.  She plans on traveling to England in October 2016 and stay for at least two years. After further studies, she has many plans to enrich her birthplace, the Mississippi Delta, through efforts geared towards improving writing, health and education.

“I am also looking into another program [other than medical anthropology],” said Wheeler. “I don’t only plan to come back [to Mississippi] as a trained physician, but I also want to help with public health policies and education policies so I am hoping I can learn how to go about that at Oxford.”