Ilhan Dahir (Political Science; English, 2015) has been named a 2016 Rhodes Scholar. The scholarship supports two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Thirty-two scholarships are awarded annually to outstanding seniors and recent graduates across the United States. Dahir is Ohio State's sixth Rhodes Scholar; the university's last scholar was Jessica Hanzlik in 2008. 

The daughter of Somali immigrants in Columbus, Dahir was selected for her commitment to the empowerment of refugee communities around the world and her potential as a leader and advocate for refugees and communities in turmoil. She is currently on a Fulbright Fellowship teaching English in Turkey.

While at Ohio State, Dahir did her senior thesis on the role of western foreign fighters in the Islamic State group, and represented the U.S. at an international discussion in Brussels on countering violent extremism. She was involved with Face to Face – Faith to Faith, an organization of Christian, Jewish and Muslim teenagers working to develop effective leaders for a multi-faith global society. After going through the leadership program herself, she returned as a counselor to help empower more future leaders.

Dahir was Morrill Scholar, Buckeye Leadership Fellow and member of the university Honors Program. In 2012, Ilhan was named a White House Champion of Change and in 2014, she was invited to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s Community Engagement Program.

Dahir served as editor of The Algerian, Ohio State’s student magazine on political science and international relations; interned with the Ohio Democratic Party and the Canadian Parliament; led the university’s Collegiate Council on World Affairs as the chapter’s secretary; and organized for prison reform through the Ohio Student Organization, a statewide nonprofit group advocating for progressive public policy.

As a Rhodes Scholar, Dahir will spend two years at the University of Oxford in England, obtaining master’s degrees in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and Global Governance and Diplomacy before returning to the U.S. to attend law school and begin a career as an international human rights attorney. She plans to dedicate her career to advocating for refugees and communities in turmoil.

 “Since I have had extensive experience working within refugee communities as the founder of a Somali mentorship program in the central Ohio region, I am immensely aware of the difficultly new citizens have in adjusting to their new communities. Navigating social spheres is difficult enough, but the intricacies of legality pose a different and ultimately more complicated challenge,” said Dahir.