Pictured above is Trey Cumberbatch the 2021 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar.
Trey Cumberbatch of Kirtons, St. Philip, was chosen as the 2021 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar. The announcement was made yesterday by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason at Government House.
After a full day of virtual interviews with eight candidates and deliberations, both face-to-face and virtually, the selection committee, which is chaired by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, selected Barbadian Trey Cumberbatch for the prestigious international scholarship, which was first awarded in 1902.
In her announcement, Dame Sandra stated: “Yet again this year, we have been given a cadre of very erudite, intelligent and articulate young Caribbean people. Each one of them could easily have been given the scholarship because they have vision and we know that wherever they go, as our Barbadian anthem says, they will do credit to our nation.”
Trey, a 23-year-old mental health advocate, is a former student of the Alexandra school. He holds a BSc. in Psychology with first class honours, and intends to study for a MSc. in Evidence Based Social Intervention at the University of Oxford. He intends to use his degree to shape Barbados’ mental health policy.
“I very much want to be at the forefront in terms of the development of that policy, and making sure that that policy meets the mental health needs of the Barbadian population. I think as a society and a culture we’ve ignored it for far too long, and we need to have it written in policy that mental health is important. And we have things in place to make sure that people have access to health care and mental health care and it is affordable,” Trey stated.
The aim of the Rhodes Scholarship is to select outstanding young people with the potential to lead, and who will make an impact for good in the world later in life.
The selection committees around the world select on the basis of not only intellect, but also on character, leadership and commitment to service.
This year, candidates from Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago vied for the scholarship.
sheena.forde-craigg@barbados.gov.bb
