Hackwell '02 wins Keasbey Scholarship for English study

Leaving regional job offers behind, Paul Hackwell '02 will head to Oxford University next year to study English on a Keasbey Scholarship. For two years he will pursue a master of philosophy degree in English medieval literature from 1100-1500.

While the prize itself resembles the Rhodes Scholarship, the Keasbey differs in its distribution process. With the help of former University President Dodd, a Philadelphia heiress originally set up the Keasbey in 1950 to educate students through the British educational system.

Though British students receive most of the scholarships, four are handed out each year to American undergraduates who want to pursue graduate studies at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh or Wales at Aberystwyth.

"I really always wanted to go to Oxford, and this was a big deal to me," Hackwell said. "So I took the chance and gave up those banking job offers. I guess it was a very risky move to make, but it paid off in the end."

Making choices between competing directions is nothing new for Hackwell. Throughout his Princeton career, he has been intrigued by a variety of academic disciplines. As an underclassman he flirted with the idea of concentrating in the departments of psychology, economics and the Wilson School.

"English won out — and it has been a good choice. I am glad that I did it," he said. Yet, in keeping with his interest in economics, Hackwell will also receive a certificate in finance when he graduates in June.

Academic inspiration

Hackwell cited his freshman seminar on Dante as one of the first reasons he was drawn to the English department. "I really enjoyed it, and much more than I expected," he noted.

His professor, Robert Hollander, encouraged him to expand his final paper from the class and submit it to the Dante Society of America. The paper earned him the society's annual undergraduate award.

While at the University, Hackwell has also been involved in a wide range of activities, including serving as an Outdoor Action leader, a writer for the Princeton Spectator and a Residential Computer Consultant. In addition, he has played on several soccer teams, including the junior varsity squad on which he served as captain this year.

But for now, these activities have taken a back seat while he completes his senior thesis, an analysis of Lord Byron's Don Juan.

"This award was kind of an interesting process in terms of everyone's interests converging and pushing me forward to get something that I have always wanted, but I otherwise might not have had the courage to go after," Hackwell said.

There are 12 American universities or colleges eligible to nominate candidates for the award, and four compete each year on a three-year cycle.