Kamille Adair is 2012’s JA Rhodes Scholar
ON the day when Kamille Adair was to be called to the bar at the Supreme Court — the function officially giving her authority to practise in the courts as a lawyer — she decided to forego the ceremony to compete for the highly coveted Jamaica Rhodes Scholarship for 2012.
The decision paid off handsomely for the high achiever as she was chosen from a field of nine brilliant candidates for the prize, following interviews with the Rhodes committee at King’s House on Thursday.
“I am very ecstatic, having gone through the process last year, so this is really a great experience for me and I am very, very happy”, a smiling Adair told Career & Education shortly after the announcement by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen.
Last year, the 22-year-old Ardenne High School graduate was a finalist for the award, which is considered among the world’s most prestigious scholarships. At least one Jamaican is selected annually as the Rhodes scholar, but a second Jamaican may be selected, as was the case last year, as students are also considered for another Rhodes scholarship offered to students from the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Rhodes scholarships were first awarded to Jamaicans in 1904 and are granted from the Rhodes Trust, established from the fortunes of British diamond magnate and imperial statesman Cecil Rhodes.
Adair is headed to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in October next year, where she will pursue a bachelor’s degree in civil laws focusing on international law to be followed by a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and possibly studies at the doctoral level over the next three to four years.
Adair’s success breaks an eight-year run in which all the Rhodes scholars came from Campion College.
The Rhodes scholarship is only the latest in a series of outstanding achievements by the 22-year-old resident of Greater Portmore, St Catherine. While reading for her Certificate in Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School, Adair copped most outstanding student awards for both year and was valedictorian for the Class of 2011. She also won several prizes, including:
* the Douglas Fletcher Memorial Prize for academic achievement, interest in the Law School and discipline and attitude to study;
* the Vaccianna and Whittingham Prize for best performance in criminal practice and Procedure and Civil Procedure and Practice 1; and
* the Justice Courtenay Orr Memorial Prize for best combined performance in Criminal Practise and Procedure and Law of Evidence.
In addition, she was recognised for her performance in several international moot court competitions, including the Inter-American Human Rights; European Law Students’ Association competition on World Trade Law, and Phillip C Jessop International Law Competition.
Adair’s path of excellence at NMLS was a continuation of the trail she blazed in completing her Bachelor of Law degree at the University of the West Indies’ Mona and Cave Hill campuses, and earlier on at Ardenne.
Her accolades are too numerous to mention, but her award for first place in Science, Medicine and Technology from the faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at Mona in 2007, the Government of Jamaica, Female Scholar for 2006, and first-place awards in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) accounting and communication studies in Jamaica in 2006 and 2005 respectively speak volumes of her all-round academic ability.
A woman of many interests, Adair is an avid netballer, representing Ardenne and Cave Hill in the sport; has been a member of the choir at school, university, the NMLS, as well as at the Assembly Hall on Orange Street in Kingston where she attends church.
Adair has volunteered at teen camps, vacation Bible school, children’s homes and with street children.
“Outside of law I am very much interested in promoting self-worth in young women, and so I participate in various programmes of mentorship of girls, playing netball and counseling,” she told Career & Education.
The young attorney currently works as a researcher at the NMLS but is eyeing a career in international human rights law.
Several persons have assisted Adair on her impressive journey to date, but she lists her parents Berley and Annette Adair as her biggest influences.
“Academically I must make mention of (NMLS principal) Professor Stephen Vasciannie and a couple of my UWI lecturers Dr David Berry and Ms Tracy Robinson in particular as persons who influenced me and whom I looked up to,” she noted.
Adair also thanks fiancé Yushaine Morgan and best friend Gabrielle Elliott-Williams for their support.