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United States Military Academy West Point Cadet and former Woodbridge High School student Fahad Abdulrazzaq was named a U.S. Rhodes Scholar over the weekend.
Abdulrazzaq, one of only 32 students awarded the prestigious scholarship, will study at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2024 as part of the program. He plans to study international policy and impacts on refugees and forced migration.
Abdulrazzaq said in a West Point press release that being named a Rhodes scholar reminded him of his purpose: to fight.
“The Rhodes Scholarship is a community of global leaders and I hope to grow with them in order to become a stronger fighter for my communities and my teammates,” he said. “This honor has proven to me that no journey is ever alone. The impact we can make is reliant on teams being ready for the next challenge.”
Abdulrazzaq was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2001, just two years before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. His father was an interpreter for the U.S. Army, and the family eventually moved to the U.S.
They settled in Woodbridge, where Abdulrazzaq attended school and graduated from Woodbridge High School in 2019.
Abdulrazzaq is currently a senior at West Point, where he majors in international affairs with a focus in Middle Eastern conflicts.
He is a Stamps scholar, Yale/U.S. Military Academy Peace and Dialogue Leadership Initiative Fellow and has served as a Pentagon intern in the Joint Chiefs of Staff office.
As a cadet, he currently serves as a Regimental Commander, directing a 30-person staff and overseeing 1,100 other cadets.
In addition to being a squad leader, Abdulrazzaq is a boxer on West Point’s national boxing team.
“Our community should be very proud of his military service to the country and this tremendous accomplishment,” Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said in a press release. “He represents the best of Prince William County Public Schools and he embodies the profile of our graduates.”
Abdulrazzaq hopes to become a military intelligence officer and pursue work in special operations while serving, according to the West Point release.
The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest international fellowship award in the world, first created in 1902 following the death of Cecil Rhodes, a British mining magnate, imperialist and politician who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony. The Rhodes Trust, a British charity established to honor Rhodes, provides full financial support for Rhodes Scholars to pursue a degree at the University of Oxford.
