University polymath named Rhodes Scholar

Christian Sahner one of 32 selected across the nation

By: Courtney Gross
   He may be "super surprised" he received the award, but it’s his resume that is astonishing.
   From his position as the editor-in-chief of conservative magazine Princeton Tory to the founder of the Elizabeth Anscombe Society, a group promoting abstinence and a chaste lifestyle, Christian Sahner is far from the rank-and-file Princeton University student.
   And as one of 32 recently selected Rhodes Scholars for 2007, Mr. Sahner is again set apart.
   "I can’t say it really separates me," Mr. Sahner said modestly of his accomplishments. "It’s a great honor and a real responsibility also. … They select Rhodes Scholars with the intention that you will become the leader in your field," he added.
   At Oxford University, Mr. Sahner will be studying for a master’s degree in late antiquity and Byzantine studies. His interest in the history of the late Roman empire, he said, was founded in his Maplewood-based Columbia High School art history classes.
   While at Oxford, Mr. Sahner said he intends to study the relationship among Islam, Catholicism in Europe and the Byzantine world, discovering how each reacts to one another.
   During his past several years at Princeton, Mr. Sahner, a senior art and archaeology major, received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence twice, founded an academic journal for students examining medieval studies to promote their research and also is Phi Beta Kappa.
   He had conducted independent research in Europe and is the undergraduate ministry coordinator of the Aquinas Institute. Mr. Sahner is also a junior fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
   Although the application process was extremely intense — a procedure that included coordinating eight letters of recommendation — it was extremely rewarding, Mr. Sahner said.
   Hoping to become a history professor, Mr. Sahner said many have made impressions on him throughout his Princeton career, including students and faculty.
   Having first met Mr. Sahner during his freshman year at Princeton, John Fleming, the Louis Fairchild ’24 Professor of English and Comparative Literature Emeritus, said he hopes to have helped develop Mr. Sahner’s interest in ancient history.
   Above all, the professor added, Mr. Sahner possesses the independent qualities that are honored in the Rhodes Scholar — integrity and intellectual respect, among others.
   "His strengths as a student include his incisive intelligence, the breadth of his historical imagination, and an unusual capacity for sustained hard work," Professor Fleming noted.
   "In what I might call ‘purely’ academic terms, Mr. Sahner is clearly among the most select group of our students in all our various fields of study — in science, in engineering, in the social sciences, in the humanities," Professor Fleming added.
   The Rhodes Scholar program, created in 1902, recognizes academic achievement as well as character.
   According to a statement from Princeton University, Mr. Sahner was chosen for Oxford out of 896 applications from 340 colleges and universities in the United States.