Long Island native wins Rhodes scholarship, seeks to pursue passion for art history at Oxford

Long Island resident and Yale University senior Jacqueline Testamark has been named a Rhodes scholar, an accomplishment that will enable her to pursue her passion for reframing museum exhibitions to show a globalized view of the ancient world.

Testamark, of Levittown, was among the roughly 30 Americans named to the prestigious scholarship Saturday, which will take them to the University of Oxford in October 2024 to pursue graduate degrees.

At Oxford, Testamark will seek to get a master of studies in history of art and visual culture. She is currently majoring in classical civilizations and history.

When reached Monday morning, Testamark said she was still taking in the experience of being named a Rhodes scholar, describing it as “surreal.”

“I think I’m still kind of struggling to wrap my head around it,” Testamark, 20, said in a phone interview.

More than 2,500 students started the application process this year for a Rhodes scholarship, aiming to pursue graduate degrees in areas ranging from the humanities to physical sciences, according to a statement from the Rhodes Trust.

More than 860 were endorsed by roughly 250 higher learning institutions, the statement read. The roughly 30 American chosen scholars will join an international group representing more than 70 countries.

Students who get the scholarship receive two to three years of all expenses covered at Oxford. They may be able to get funding for a fourth year. People who have been named as Rhodes scholars include Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and former President Bill Clinton.

For Testamark, the scholarship will allow her to pursue museum curations on the ancient world that range from Rome and Greece to Africa and the Middle East. She said she also wants to highlight the stories of enslaved people, women, children and “all these people who kind of … traditionally get lost within the historical narrative.”

“But I think my goal is to just try and present art in as much of a tangible, digestible way for as many people as possible and incorporating as many perspectives as possible within those exhibitions and those museum spaces,” she said.

Bill Quinan, Testamark’s senior year Advanced Placement economics teacher at Levittown’s Division Avenue High School, described her as a lifelong learner. 

“She could have done whatever she wanted to do. It could have been engineering, medical, history, finance, politics — I’m not surprised she pursued her passion,” Quinan said.

Testamark said her passion was the classics, but she didn’t come to Yale knowing that. She entered college as a political science student with the goal of going to law school, though she soon realized that it didn’t make her happy.

So, with the support of her parents, she decided to switch. Testamark also helped organize Yale’s Classics Anti-Racism Reading Group and worked as a field archaeologist in Rome, among other experiences.

To other students looking toward finding the correct career path, she offered advice from her parents: “Every morning when you wake up, make sure that you're doing something that you love and that makes you happy.”

“Because I think that's what has gotten me to this point,” she said.

With Nicholas Spangler

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Education: Howard University 

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation;  New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting;  Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.