Leadership experiences defined Hannah Blakey's time at Army West Point, where she provided support to her peers, led cadets in basic training and was named to the academy's executive leadership team.
The senior track and field student-athlete's accomplishments culminated in being named a Rhodes Scholar in November. Blakey will pursue refugee and forced migration studies and evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation for two years at Oxford University beginning in the fall.
Blakey, a Persian and French double major, developed an interest in migration and refugees when she learned through her coursework about the persistence of forced marriages and human trafficking. At Oxford, she will have the opportunity to study how international agencies, governments and armed forces can positively affect refugee resettlement and care.
The Patriot League 400-meter hurdles champion credits the supportive environment from her coaches and classmates for her successes at Army West Point. "It propelled me to want to do better and give my best in track, but it also let me know that I had the space of support from all sides that were really helping me achieve my goals."
Blakey has embraced numerous leadership opportunities at the academy. She has worked with Elevation Initiative, a group founded in 2013 to provide peer mentoring and support for minority students seeking leadership positions in the U.S. Corps of Cadets. Throughout the summer of 2021, she led new cadets as regimental commander of Cadet Basic Training. Over five weeks, new cadets learn essential interpersonal, behavioral and tactical skills from older peers.
For Blakey, the experience was an opportunity to demonstrate servant leadership. "That has probably been one of my favorite experiences as a cadet," she said. "I think the basic thing that you learn there is not just what kind of leader you are and what parts of your leadership style really work and really connect you to people, but it's a whole new experience in teamwork. It's like a five-week-long group project. But these are people's lives that you're impacting with this group project."
This fall, Blakey began serving as the brigade executive officer for the corps. She was selected to the executive leadership team after a rigorous yearlong application process and for her outstanding performance during Cadet Basic Training. As someone responsible for the collective well-being of her classmates, Blakey found that maintaining an open-door policy to anyone who needs assistance suited her best. "Being present helps people to know that you're willing to serve them and be there for them and care for them," she said.
In a year when Army West Point produced four Rhodes Scholars, including two close friends, Blakey is eager to share her graduate studies with academy classmates. "Knowing that I'm going to be going into the experience, not just with other cadets, but with cadets that I'm close to and that I genuinely love and care for adds on another layer of amazement and excitement," she said.
The connections she's made at the academy have left an impression on her. "It's so hard to recognize when somebody impacts you or when somebody influences the way that you think or the way that you want to live your life," she noted. "The more I've reflected over the course of the semester, the more I've really come to appreciate all those people who have made a difference in my life and really encouraged me to reach for my goals."
Blakey remembered a moment this summer when the Army West Point community helped a former classmate in need. In August, the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan and ended its war there. Blakey recalled a 2017 academy graduate and Afghan national who needed help evacuating the country with his family. Through a groundswell of alumni support and quick action, the former cadet was able to safely return to the United States. For Blakey, the moment of solidarity underscored the power of community and common purpose. "We talk about The Long Gray Line and about how important it is and how it's a family. I don't think I realized until this year how strong that connection really is," she said. "It's a connection that isn't just good for networking or meeting people. It's a connection that literally saves lives."
After all she has accomplished, Blakey still has not lost sight of the people who have supported and believed in her. Despite her accolades, Blakey almost did not apply for a Rhodes Scholarship. It was not until a fellow cadet pulled her aside and insisted she was qualified for the prestigious honor that Blakey came to see it in herself. With that turning point in mind, Blakey offered advice for fellow-student-athletes: "There are other people that are believing in you, watching you, looking at you, and you are inspiring people that you don't even realize," she said. "When the people see something in you, even if you can't see it for yourself, trust that and give it your all because you never know who you might reach."
In a moment of candor, Blakey recounted her favorite race as a cadet: the 400-meter hurdles at the 2021 Patriot League outdoor track and field championships, when she set the program record for the Black Knights. Running head-to-head against a competitor from Navy who had beaten her indoors that year, Blakey surged to victory, refusing to let herself quit. That day, Blakey recognized she shared something profound with the Navy student-athlete: the mutual admiration among members of the U.S. armed forces. She remarked, "These are people that I am going to be able to trust and depend on and who I'm going to count on and who are going to count on me. I want to keep that strong."