UVic scores hat trick with third Rhodes scholar

It was third time lucky for both Emily Poupart and UVic when the Vikes rower and grad student was named one of Canada’s 2003 Rhodes Scholars—the third consecutive year a UVic student has been awarded the honour.

Poupart, who is from Jonquière and lives in Montreal when classes aren’t in session, was awarded the scholarship by Quebec.

“It’s still so surreal, I still haven’t realized that I’m going to Oxford,” said Poupart in a pre-Christmas phone interview. “The academic environment there will be fantastic and, of course, there’s the rowing.”

The McGill political science grad first applied for a Rhodes scholarship in 2000. “The McGill process is very lengthy with interviews, lunches and cocktail parties and I was disappointed when I didn’t win.” But she tried again in 2001 and made it to the final round with the same results. This year she thought, “I have nothing to lose” and learned in early December she’d be heading to Oxford in the fall of 2003.

She plans to pursue a PhD program in developmental studies after completing her master’s in dispute resolution at UVic this summer.

“I’ve finished the course work and I’m working on my thesis examining how language is used to affect change in conflict situations.”

When it comes to language, Poupart speaks several—English, French, Spanish—with some knowledge of Mandarin and Italian. She’s studied in Beijing and Florence, trekked the Inca Trail to Macchu Piccu in Peru, and spent a semester in Panama as a consultant on the creation of a new watershed involving the resettlement of 8,000 people, examining the role played by World Bank and Inter American Development Bank policies in the mass move.

“Emily is a very dynamic, extraordinarily enthusiastic person. She just radiates positive energy,”says Prof. Maureen Maloney, director of UVic’s institute for dispute resolution, who wrote one of Poupart’s support letters.

Rhodes scholars are expected to be more than bright students and active individuals. While at McGill Poupart volunteered at its office for students with disabilities, an experience she described as “absolutely amazing.” In Victoria, she visits area schools as a member of the anti youth violence organization Rock Solid, encouraging youngsters to get involved in sport and benefit from the discipline it provides for young lives.

Sport has been a constant in Poupart’s life for years. The former ski instructor and triathlete began rowing while at McGill and chose UVic for graduate studies in part because of the reputation of its rowing program. She won two gold and a silver medal as a member of the Canadian team at the 2002 Commonwealth Regatta in England and a gold medal as a member of the varsity eight that claimed a sixth straight national university championship for UVic last fall.

“I’ll miss UVic,” admits Poupart. “The crew is amazing, such a fantastic group of women.” Following graduation, she’ll set her sights on winning a place on the Canadian team heading to the 2004 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo. Then Poupart’s next try-outs will be for the famous Oxford Blues.