Tawreak “Ty” Gamble-Eddington '21 has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford.
Gamble-Eddington is one of 32 Rhodes Scholars selected from a pool of 826 candidates representing 247 colleges in the United States. The class includes 22 women, the most ever, the Rhodes Trust announced in a statement Sunday.
Highly competitive, the Rhodes is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world. Each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the Rhodes Trust announces the names of the newest Rhodes Scholars from the U.S. The selection process was completed virtually for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The scholars are expected to start at Oxford next October.
“It is a pleasure to congratulate Ty on receiving such a fitting honor,” said David R. Harris, president of Union College. “Just as Ty’s leadership on campus has inspired so many to work for positive change, I am certain he will have a significant impact across multiple tomorrows.”
A political science and history major with minors in political economy and Spanish and Hispanic Studies, Gamble-Eddington received the Frank Bailey (1885) Prize last spring at Union. It is awarded annually to the senior who has rendered the greatest service to the College in any field.
He was well known for his community activism and work through organizations including Union Pride, Black Student Union, LGBTQ+ Committee, the Diversity Liaison Committee and the Civic Engagement Committee.
Gamble-Eddington was involved in the founding of Union’s chapter of My Brother’s Keeper, a mentoring program for Schenectady youth. During winter term 2019, he traveled to Argentina, where he worked with a legal firm to provide services to the poor, the homeless and juvenile inmates. In a fall 2019 term abroad, he was in Seville, Spain, taking classes on immigration policy and working with an organization to help immigrants fully exercise their legal rights.
An aspiring international lawyer, he did his senior thesis focused on reforms designed to enhance minority participation in the democratic process.
Among his many honors, Gamble-Eddington received the George J. Mitchell Scholarship in support of a year of graduate study in race, ethnicity and conflict. He is currently at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
The Rhodes scholarships average $70,000 per year and cover all expenses for up to four years of study. Scholars are free to study the full range of disciplines offered at Oxford, including life sciences, arts and humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the physical sciences.
Gamble-Eddington applied for the Rhodes Scholarship with assistance from the office of National Fellowships and Scholarships and others at Union. He is from Springfield, Mass.
While at Union, Gamble-Eddington said, “I really fell in love with all of my classes, and I have wonderful professors and advisers who are experts in their fields and who helped me chart the best course for my future.”
Gamble-Eddington is the second Union student to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, joining Gregg Meyer '84, now a senior leader at Mass General Brigham hospitals in the Boston area.
Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said of this year’s class: “They are inspiring young leaders already, and we are confident that their contributions to public welfare nationally and globally will expand exponentially over the course of their careers in varied sectors and disciplines.”