San Francisco University High School and Summerbridge Alum, Camila Pelsinger '15/SB '11, has been named a 2020 Rhodes Scholar by Oxford University - one of the most esteemed international fellowship awards.

"This year's American Rhodes Scholars—independently elected by 16 committees around the country meeting simultaneously—once again reflect the extraordinary diversity that characterizes and strengthens the United States," Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said in a statement.

"They will go to Oxford in September 2020 to study in fields broadly across the social, biological and physical sciences, and in the humanities. They are leaders already, and we expect their impact to expand exponentially over the course of their public-spirited careers," he said.

Camila is both a Summerbridge and UHS alum, 15/SB '11 and also worked as a teaching fellow at Breakthrough New York. She will pursue a master’s degree at Oxford University beginning Oct. 2020, undertaking a M.Sc. in Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Master of Public Policy.

When we followed up with Camila following the Rhodes Scholar announcement, she stated, "I'm so grateful to Summerbridge for helping me get to this point!!," adding, "As an alumnus of Breakthrough, I have continued to return as a teaching fellow, because I can personally attest to the impact such a program can have on students, as it played a critical role in my own academic successes. Summerbridge gave me the opportunity to learn from and alongside teachers that were closer to my age and interested in the same topics I was. I learned about the importance of building intentional community and even more importantly, that having access to the resources of higher education meant that I had an obligation to support the communities from which I came. My time at Summerbridge revealed the importance of student-centered learning, small class sizes and critical pedagogy in education that every student should have access to. I still bring these lessons to the work I do at Brown and the work I hope to do at Oxford."

Camila is one of just 32 Rhodes Scholars named for 2020. At least 21 of the 32 recipients identified as women, the most ever in an American Rhodes class. It's worth mentioning that the scholarship, founded in 1902, wasn't open to women until 1976 and Camila joins a fantastic list of women this year. The list includes Kristine E. Guillaume, the first black woman President of the Harvard Crimson, Daine A. Van de Wall, Brigade Commander at West Point, and Hera Jay Brown, a Fulbright-Schuman fellow who the trust says is the first transgender woman selected for the program.