Honours Canadian studies and sociology student Kylie de Chastelain is Mount Allison University’s newest Rhodes Scholar. de Chastelain is one of 11 students across Canada selected for the prestigious scholarship, valued at over $100,000 from England’s University of Oxford.

A resident of Georgetown, ON, de Chastelain is the 11th Mount Allison student in the past 13 years to receive the award.

“The news is still sinking in,” says de Chastelain, who learned she had received the scholarship over the weekend. “I am honoured and very thankful for all the people who supported me to help me get here.”

“We are very proud of Kylie, whose academic and extracurricular activities and achievements are exceptional,” says Mount Allison University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Campbell. “I would like to congratulate her on behalf of the entire Mount Allison community, and to thank our faculty and staff for creating and nurturing a learning environment at Mount Allison where students can excel and reach their full potential.”

de Chastelain will graduate this spring with an honours degree in Canadian studies and sociology. She has focused largely on Aboriginal studies during her time at Mount Allison and plans to continue her studies in politics and governance at Oxford.

“I am excited by what Oxford has to offer and look forward to studying in an international setting,” she says.

de Chastelain received research grants for various projects over the past two summers at Mount Allison. In 2013 she travelled to the Northwest Territories where she participated in a field school, living with a community of Dene elders. 

“It was a wonderful experience. I was able to observe and participate in many aspects of traditional Northern life — storytelling, traditional food, hikes, visiting gravesites. I hope to return to the North some day, as I’m particularly interested in the cultural/human security of the region,” says de Chastelain.

de Chastelain who is a member of the New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network, was awarded NBSPRN’s Student Grant in 2013.

Academics have also played a role in de Chastelain’s interests and activities outside the classroom. She served as vice-president, academic for the Students’ Union in her third year and currently works as an intern with Mount Allison’s Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre through academic support services. She is also an intern with the University’s Centre for Canadian Studies.

“University education is a long-standing and very important tradition in my family,” she says. “My great-grandparents earned their university degrees and my mom is originally from England. It will be neat to remember this connection while at Oxford.”

de Chastelain is also involved in Global Brigades, the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization, and will be heading to Honduras this February with the Mount Allison chapter. A member of the choral society and highland dance, de Chastelain is also the recipient of a Bell Scholarship, one of Mount Allison’s most prestigious entrance awards, valued at $48,000 over four years.

de Chastelain was featured as the Member of the Month for our September newsletter which you can read here.