The heart of New York: Celebrating Dave Basnet, Hunter College Rhodes Scholar
Immigrant, unable to speak English, arrives here seeking political asylum and makes good — actually, makes great. It’s the story of New York and the story of America and it’s the story of Dave Basnet, the Hunter College senior who just won a Rhodes Scholarship. Congratulations, young man, on an outstanding achievement. You should be proud, as should your family and your school. We certainly are.
Devashish Basnet came here from Nepal as a kid with his family. He picked up a new language and new name, Dave. In his words, he “traded mountains for skyscrapers.”
His family settled out on Long Island and he graduated from Hicksville High School. A whip-smart and talented boy with tremendous skills as a baritone as well, he didn’t go to some fancy-pants college, but chose Hunter, a public college (part of the City University) with a commitment to excellence. It worked out very well for Dave and Hunter.
Dave isn’t the first Rhodes for Hunter, as the institution has pushed undergraduate education to greater and greater heights, bringing home other top-level honors of Marshall and Truman scholarships as well.
One area where Dave is a bit unique is that he’s a Dreamer, benefiting from the DACA immigration program that has allowed him to pursue his education without having to worry about his immigration status. Without DACA, he could have been threatened with deportation. Instead, he was shielded. Having now been selected as one of America’s most promising students (there are only 32 Rhodes per year), it’s a very good thing for the country that he got to stay here.
CUNY has always had as its mission to serve the whole population of New York, immigrant and native-born, rich or poor, irrespective of race, color, creed or ancestral homeland. All that matters is the desire to learn and grow. Dave Basnet is all of us. Good luck to him as he expands his studies at Oxford next year. We trust he’ll continue to do great things for himself and society.
