Westridge School alumna Carrie Ryan ’08, currently a senior at Sewanee: The University of the South, is one of 32 American students selected as a 2012 Rhodes Scholar.

Ryan, who will graduate from Sewanee in May 2012 with a major in cultural anthropology and a minor in Education, plans to pursue a Master’s in Philosophy degree in Evidence Based Social Intervention at Oxford. An active student leader, Ryan is the president of the student body and a student trustee; co-founder and co-chair of the campus Diversity Coalition; Study Skills Program leader for Canale Internship for Community Service; and Gessell Fellow in Social Ethics. She received The Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award and the 2011 Newman Civic Fellow Award, both recognizing her extensive service for, and involvement in, the community. Ryan was also honored with the Most Outstanding Youth Award at the 2009 Generations United Conference for her gerontological commitment and work in senior organizations.

“My experience at Westridge was transformative,” said Ryan. “Especially after an independent study I pursued during my senior year alongside Ed Raines, Aging in Literature teacher, I left Westridge with a deep thirst to learn more and a strong commitment to social justice. I graduated from the school knowing that I was not only capable of enacting positive social change, but that I also had a responsibility in doing so.”

Rhodes Scholars must be endorsed by their college or university and according to the Rhodes Trust, are chosen on the basis of “high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership, and physical vigor.” The scholarship provides recipients with all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England, including stipends for cost of living. This year, 830 students were endorsed by 299 different institutions of higher learning.

Established in 1902, Rhodes Scholarships opened eligibility to women in 1976. This year, for only the fourth time in its history, more women (17) than men (15) received the coveted scholarship despite the fact that women constituted only 42 percent of the applicant pool, and 40 percent of those who reached the final stage of the competition.

“Carrie is one of those Westridge women to whom younger students look up to and say, ‘When I grow up I want to be just like her,’” said Elizabeth J. McGregor, head of Westridge School. “She embodies all that we hope our girls will be – intellectual, courageous, compassionate, and a leader whose quiet sense of purpose and goodness make you know that the future is in capable hands.”

Founded in 1913, Westridge School is an independent day school for college bound girls grades 4-12. Westridge strives to develop young women whose joy in learning, personal ideals, commitment to ethical action, social and environmental responsibility, courage and compassion will lead them to meaningful lives as contributing citizens of the larger world. For more information about the school, visit www.westridge.org.