I once worked at a university that never had a Rhodes Scholar. You can imagine the image problem this presented. A senior administrator, new to the whole higher education scene, came rushing into the office breathless and flailing, "We need a Rhodes Scholar," he announced. "We've got to get a Rhodes Scholar!" (No doubt, he'd just attended a meeting on student recruitment.) Producing a Rhodes Scholar would, ostensibly, prove that the university was worth something, or more specifically that its student body was of high calibre, that at least one of its students could negotiate the rigorous Rhodes selection process and be found worthy.

Working at McGill has presented no such problems. McGill has the most Rhodes Scholars of any Canadian university and rarely a year goes by without an excited announcement from the McGill public relations office: "We got one" or "We've got two!" The one or two are, of course, the new McGill Rhodes Scholars, no doubt a little dazed from the arduous selection process which just put them before a 10-member committee of McGill professors, face-to-face with the Principal of McGill and the Dean of Students. Next, the scholars must attend the "dreaded" cocktail partya customary event that draws together all the candidates, puts them in a room together and forces them to be genteelright before the last set of interviews with a regional committee, of course.

McGill takes "getting Rhodes Scholars" seriously. Consider the procedure. Firstly, the whole deal is run by the Dean of Students herself, instead of the regular scholarships and fellowships office. From the outset, McGill makes sure only the most likely to succeed begin the application process. Ads are placed in the student newspapers, The Tribune and the McGill Daily, and any student who wants a Rhodes application must attend an information session in September. (The rule is strict. In order to get a copy of the Rhodes application by fax, I had to promise not to give it out.) After the

McGill screening, some 11 candidates are put forth. One or two McGill students win each year. A student who doesn't make the McGill cut can still apply directly to their home committee and hope for the best. Brave souls, they are. But the McGill endorsement seems to tip the odds. The McGill Rhodes Scholars bear the burden of great expectations. In this issue, we profile some of the Rhodes Scholars to see how they used their talents. The pressure of expectations continues because the Rhodes Scholarship may very well be the most famous scholarship in the worldand definitely one of the most lucrative, two fully funded years of study including a travel grant.

At McGill, the undergraduate scholarships of highest value are the Blouin-MacBain scholarships: $10,000 for a Canadian student and $15,000 for an international student. Two are awarded each year. The scholarships are named for Louise Blouin and John MacBain, BA'80, owners of Hebdo Mag International in Paris. The endowment is generous under any terms, but especially for such a recent graduate. Perhaps, it comes as no surprise, then, that John was a Rhodes Scholar and benefited from the endowed funds of Cecil Rhodes.

This McGill News academic bent this issue continues with our "Mighty Minds" section featuring alumni who are leading some of the most prestigious universities on the continent. As you can imagine, university presidents are a tough lot to track down. So there is a big thank-you to all the various assistants who cajoled them on our behalf. One fund-raiser went as far as to tell his president that we'd run a blank space under his name if he didn't respond. Absolutely, not true! The McGill News is not nearly so insistent. But nearly.