News | 10:16 am | November 22, 2009 | By Carmen Lu

Two Elis garner Rhodes

Matthew Baum ’09 and Geoffrey Shaw ’10 are among 32 students nationwide who this weekend were awarded the Rhodes Scholarship, the most prestigious undergraduate academic scholarship.

The pair, who will head to Oxford next fall, was chosen from a field of 805 applicants endorsed by 326 schools across the country. The Rhodes Trust, which administers the scholarship, announced this year’s winners early Sunday morning.

Baum, who is an alumnus of Berkeley College and hails from Watertown, Mass., graduated last year with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. Currently studying for a master’s in neuroscience, at Trinity College, Ireland, as a Mitchell scholar, Baum plans to pursue a doctorate of philosophy in neuroethics at Oxford, the Rhodes Trust said.

At Yale, Baum conducted research on Fragile-X syndrome and was the president of Yale wrestling. He also played on the rugby team and coordinated a community service program, according to a biography provided by the Rhodes Trust.

A Branford College senior from Belvedere, Calif., Shaw will graduate this year with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and plans to pursue a bachelor of philosophy (a graduate degree) at Oxford, with a focus on legal philosophy, the Rhodes Trust said.

Shaw is currently the editor-in-chief of the Yale Philosophy Review, Branford’s head freshman counselor and a student member of the Executive Committee, Yale’s undergraduate disciplinary body. He served as the chairman of the Independent Party in the fall of his junior year, and has been a community volunteer in Kazakhstan and an English instructor in China.

Comments
  • 02138

    How come you don’t report that Harvard had 5 Rhodes winners this year?

    I’m sure you would have had in the headline had the numbers been reversed!

  • Because…

    …everyone knows why Harvard got 5 this year.

  • yale11

    @1– umm.. no, harvard troll, i don’t think they would would have reported it either way. stop trolling, you’re embarrassing your school with your self-important blabber.

    congrats matt and geoffrey!!

  • Y ’09

    @By 02138:

    Why does it matter how many winners Harvard had this year? The YDN is for Yale and covers Yale happenings. Not everything is a competition–and besides, the Rhodes Scholarship is awarded to students, not to schools. They’d be winners anywhere.

  • The Facts — by JP ’09

    A: I imagine you meant to say “rugby” and not “ruby”

    B: It really is incredible how people misrepresent their accomplishments (or lack thereof).

    It’s interesting to see Baum say that he played rugby — but not say that he only played for a semester. It really does a disservice to the people who really did make a long, intense commitment. The Yale Men’s club allows anyone to come out and play — we don’t make cuts, instead we find B-side matches so that everyone can play. We put everyone’s name on the roster, regardless of how much playing time they get.

    But Baum was only out for a semester, before he bailed, and it’s just plain WRONG of him to present it to the Rhodes committee and to the media in such a way that it portrays his participation as being meaningful.

    There are a lot of things I did for a semester, or once or twice, but I’m not adding them to my resume or putting them forth to scholarship committees as being an integral part of why I deserve thousands and thousands of dollars.

    It’s ethically dodgy at best, and simple untruth at worst.

    Of course, we don’t have the full facts — maybe he did tell the committee that he only played for a semester and quit as soon as his name was on the roster.

    Yeah, maybe that happened.

    There are probably other reasons why the dude deserves a Rhodes scholarship — I’d imagine they have to due with his academics and other extracurricular activities. Things that might actually speak to his ability and character.

    It’s hard to believe that nobody at Yale, or on the Rhodes committee, bothered to do any research into the matter before pledging their support.

    We all expect Yalies to be trustworthy and truthful, but obviously the definition of truth is malleable in our community.

    It ought not be.

  • yale 10

    Congrats, Geoff! Oh no you di-int…
    I’m so proud of you!!

  • @ By The Facts — by JP ’09

    Read the article before you bash. Baum was president of Yale wrestling in addition to however long he was on the rugby team. That definitely shows commitment to athletics.

  • JP

    Not only did I read the article, I read it thoroughly and several times. He’s misleading people about what he’s done:

    From the Yale OPA website @ sitehttp://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6679

    “He became hooker for Yale’s Rugby Team after holding the same position in Colorado.”

    Kid did NOT ‘become hooker.’ He played a few B-side matches and then bounced. I ought to know, as I started at that position during my four years. I had lots of backups along the way, people who were dedicated to the game and the team and Baum was never one of them.

    Nice enough dude, but when he saw he wasn’t going to play much, he took off.

    Yes, he played briefly. No his “commitment” was not meaningful.

    He was president of the wrestling team, that’s awesome — why does he need to resume pad with his brief rugby experience?

    Lame.

    Thin line between misrepresentation and dishonesty.

    He’s toeing it.

  • Yale Rugby ’11

    I’ve been told by Yale Rugby alums that Baum also had a lot to say about his rugby “commitment” and “dedication” at job interviews. It’s too bad there were other rugby guys being interviewed who could blow the whistle. What a fake, I hope he comes to the alumni game

  • JP

    After speaking w/Baum, he has not misrepresented his participation. Rather the media (for purposes of brevity, perhaps?) concatenated, thus leading to the misunderstanding.

    I wish Baum all the best. He’s a smart guy and will do well.

  • A Sometime Front Roomer

    Most prestigioous undergraduate scholarship AND the in the most elite club at Yale… Wow. Way to go, Geoff

  • MB

    After talking with James Pollack, and sending the following to the rugby panlist, I just wanted to clear things up here as well.

    I played at Colorado College while I was a Freshman there and at Yale only in 2007. I made it clear on my Rhodes application as such. I can only imagine that the media has worded their releases as the way they have in order to save space and I wish they would be more detailed.

    If you who played with me remember me, (my nickname was Colorado) I played backup to James and wherever else the team needed. I mostly played with B-side where my props were Senthu and Andrew. When we went to Cherry Blossoms (I roomed with Wariz, who should be able to vouch for me) in 2007 and James hurt his hamstring, I jumped in for the final game and did my best to continue the good quality of play our team had been giving out up to that point. When we played Princeton that spring, I had you tape my fingers together (which some Princeton Rugger had shattered) at half time so that I could finish the game. Shortly before that, I had snapped all the pix of the team with my phone so that Goggles could put them up on the website; these are the pix that are still there. I was also the kid that rode his bike to practice.

    I in no way wish to offend JP or anyone on the Yale rugby team. I think the Yale Rugby guys are an incredible group and thank you for welcoming me onto the squad when I transferred to Yale my sophomore year. I wish you nothing but the best.

  • Class act

    Matt never misrepresented his participation with Yale Rugby to anyone. Period. And he certainly didn’t win the Mitchell or the Rhodes because of any association he had with Yale Rugby. Anyone who actually knows the kid, and the selection process, knows this. It’s not his fault that someone at some point picked that one affiliation–which Matt himself acknowledges was a minor but not unimportant one in his Yale experience–as a way of identifying who he is and what he’s about.

  • Anonymous

    It’s not fair to blame Matt for the media’s tendency to reduce a person’s complex achievements to a list of extracurricular activities. There are many reasons Matt won a Rhodes, as anyone who knows him is well aware of. I find this whole discussion immature and irrelevant.

  • @Yale Rugby ’11

    The story that you overheard and are misquoting was not about Baum, but rather another former “rugby player” who had very little commitment to the team and misrepresented himself in job interviews. Please get the facts right and don’t comment on things that came before your time.

  • amazed

    amazing that a guy gets a rhodes scholarship and he is forced to defend his Rugby playing. give it a rest you meat heads.

  • JP needs to calm down

    seriously guys, are we really so insecure and overly competitive that we have to bash this kid who won a rhodes scholarship?

  • MJG

    Can’t add anything to the question of Mr. Baum, but in general it seems telling that so many Rhodes scholars ended up as politicians. These sorts of things (like getting into Yale) require not just that you are good at what you do, but that you can sell that story to others. Sometimes this has distasteful consequences- the humble have no shot at a Rhodes.

  • Interesting chart:
  • Recent Alum

    JP, do you really think the five Harvard kids who won the Rhodes didn’t at all engage in resume padding/exaggeration of their accomplishments? This is par for the course when it comes to Rhodes applications. I wouldn’t say every winner does it, but many of them do.

  • Lame

    Wow, why don’t all of the people who obviously have nothing better to do than post negative comments on a YDN article go do something? Study, maybe, so that you someday have a shot at a Rhodes Scholarship?

    Or just continue to post negative and fundamentally useless comments. Good luck with your aspirations and achieving as much as MB has.

  • yale grad

    Yikes. People: Rhodes scholars do not get to choose what gets written up in their bios. There is no evidence of resume-padding here.

    Also, FYI, contrary to popular myth, Rhodes Scholars do not get selected on sports/athletic prowess anymore. It is no more valuable than any other extracurricular activity. All Rhodes Scholars show excellence in a lot of fields; “vigor” has been reinterpreted by the Rhodes committees so that athletics no longer gets any special treatment.

    Congrats to both of this year’s scholars from Yale!

  • Yalie

    At least they don’t tap dance.

  • Linguist

    Congratulations, Geoff!

  • Nathan ”09

    Yeah Matt. Yeah Berkeley ’09!

  • Pingback: Google

  • Pingback: Education

  • Pingback: chicago interior designer

  • Pingback: Quetzaltenango.

  • Pingback: Spanish schools immersion in Quetzaltenango

  • Pingback: chockana supply

  • Pingback: escorts sydney

  • Pingback: seoservicestool

  • Pingback: I thought about this

  • Pingback: Machu Picchu Tours

  • Pingback: click this link

  • Pingback: visit the site

  • Pingback: best Alzheimer's disease book

  • Pingback: Best Real Estate Agent in Los Angeles

  • Pingback: Toronto SEO

  • Pingback: sydney escorts

  • Pingback: this page

  • Pingback: personal loan singapore

  • Pingback: her explanation

  • Pingback: super fast reply

  • Pingback: killer deal

  • Pingback: find out here

  • Pingback: web page value

  • Pingback: diy wedding centerpieces

  • Pingback: bitcoins for gold

  • Pingback: Free Advertise

  • Pingback: Tom

  • Pingback: visite site

  • Pingback: domer.com.pl

  • Pingback: no title

  • Pingback: champaign iL antiques

  • Pingback: paintless dent repair training

  • Pingback: cigarrillo electronico

  • Pingback: nottingham escorts

  • Pingback: buy youtube views cheap

  • Pingback: Minecraft help

  • Pingback: water ionizers

  • Pingback: champaign il personal trainer

  • Pingback: escort paris

  • Pingback: culotte piscine

  • Pingback: Google

  • Pingback: scary maze game 3

  • Pingback: Keyword: SEO Toronto

  • Pingback: Lab Active

  • Pingback: bad credit loans

  • Pingback: Learning Disabilities

  • Pingback: annonce

  • Pingback: trainingpaintlessdentrepair.com

  • Pingback: http://www.willevansclothing.com

  • Pingback: summer dresses

  • Pingback: vrati

  • Pingback: houses for sale in tenerife

  • Pingback: Buy instagram Followers

  • Pingback: Online Gambling

  • Pingback: Online Gambling

  • Pingback: interesting

  • Pingback: Nuru Massage

  • Pingback: http://pdrquestions.com

  • Pingback: http://bryanpdr.com

  • Pingback: San Diego Web Design

  • Pingback: paintless dent repair training online that is best

  • Pingback: business class airfare

  • Pingback: SEO Services in Toronto

  • Pingback: Sydney escorts

  • Pingback: found this

  • Pingback: Sydney escorts

  • Pingback: hp laserjet 5 toner cartridges

  • Pingback: sentricon

  • Pingback: Adressen kaufen

  • Pingback: Jewelry for women

  • Pingback: www.trainingpaintlessdentrepair.com-paintless dent repair

  • Pingback: paintless dent removal http://www.dingwizard.org

  • Pingback: payday loans direct lender

  • Pingback: banners madison

  • Pingback: 500 fast advance

  • Pingback: Lloyd Irvin Rape

  • Pingback: health and wellness speaker

  • Pingback: cash advance loans

  • Pingback: livechat

  • Pingback: paintless dent repair training

  • Pingback: cleansing benefit of water

  • Pingback: forex trading currency

  • Pingback: Vancouver Bootcamp Kickboxing Fitness

  • Pingback: satiereal saffron extract

  • Pingback: payment system

  • Pingback: cheap checks

  • Pingback: ECU, PCM reflashing

  • Pingback: this

  • Pingback: www.paintlessdentrepaironline.com

  • Pingback: düğün hikayesi fotoğrafçısı

  • Pingback: payday loans las vegas

  • Pingback: http://fiddlelol.blogspot.com/

  • Pingback: Wooden handmade gazebos

  • Pingback: kesin lida

  • Pingback: max credit

  • Pingback: Water damage restoration company columbus ohio

  • Pingback: line of credit

  • Pingback: dzialki w gorzowie

  • Pingback: google sniper 2.0

  • Pingback: Escorts in Bulgaria

  • Pingback: bamboo socks

  • Pingback: john clock