St. John's Alum Jervon Sands Receives Rhodes Scholarship

COLLEGEVILLE (WJON News) - For the first time in more than 50 years, St. John’s University can add a Rhodes Scholar to its alumni list.

Get our free mobile app

Jervon Sands, an applied physics graduate from Nassau, Bahamas, represented the Commonwealth Caribbean at a presentation at the State House in Barbados hosted by President Sandra Mason last week.

The Rhodes Scholarship has been based at Oxford University in England since 1903. President Bill Clinton, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and author Naomi Wolf are former recipients of the scholarship. The overall success rate for the Rhodes Scholarship is 0.7%, making it one of the most competitive scholarships in the world.

Sandra Mason, President of Barbados, congratulates Saint John’s University graduate Jervon Sands, the 2024 Rhodes Scholar for the Commonwealth Caribbean, during a ceremony Tuesday night. Looking on is Secretary of the Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee, Bertha Pilgrim. Submitted Photo.

Sands graduated summa cum laude from St. John’s in 2023 and will study for the Master of Sciences degree in Environmental Change and Management, and a Masters Degree in Sustainability, Enterprise, and the Environment at Oxford University starting this fall.

Other Rhodes Scholars from St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict:

Jevon Sands – 2023
Rachel Mullin – 2014
Laura McGrane – 1991
Steven Michaud - 1967

Sands is currently serving in the Benedictine Volunteer Corps at Monasterio San Antonio Abad in Humacao, Puerto Rico. He also attended the United Nations climate conference (COP 27) last year in Egypt and worked for a climate change charity in London.

Once his Master’s Degree is completed, Sands plans on returning to The Bahamas to work promoting education on climate concerns.