Daughters of Immigrants Selected as Rhodes Scholars Back-to-Back in Firsts for UConn, Southern

The daughter of immigrants to Connecticut from Kenya and the daughter of Afghan refugees who immigrated to Connecticut have accomplished in back-to-back years what no student of Connecticut’s state universities has ever done in their 100+ year history.

Asma Rahimyar – a senior pursuing a double baccalaureate degree in political science and philosophy – will become the first Rhodes Scholar in Southern Connecticut State University’s history, it was announced recently.

Rahimyar, a Trumbull resident and daughter of Afghan refugees, follows by just one year the selection of Wanjiku (Wawa) Gatheru, a highly accomplished student leader whose academic achievements earned national recognition, as the University of Connecticut’s first Rhodes Scholar.

Gatheru was a senior majoring in environmental studies with minors in global studies and urban and community studies, and was among 32 people nationwide elected to the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2020 and is now pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in England.

The award is considered one of the most prestigious academic honors in the world. Applicants are chosen based on several criteria with academic excellence being the foremost. “We seek outstanding young people of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service,” said Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, and a former Connecticut resident and Rhodes Scholar who attended Yale University.

Rahimyar was among 32 Americans chosen for the prestigious award for 2021, from an applicant pool exceeding 2,300.  Rahimyar told Southern News she is proud to represent her family, community and Southern.

“It’s exciting, overwhelming, and also very humbling,” she said. “I had no expectations of making it to this point. Southern has taught me how to keep my feet on the ground and reach for the stars,” Rahimyar continued. “So many of our students have life struggles outside of the classroom and it’s difficult for them to pursue their studies. They should know the sky’s the limit; there’s no limit to the extent of their aspirations.”

Rahimyar plans to pursue masters’ degrees in global governance and diplomacy, and in refugee and forced migration studies. She eventually hopes to obtain a doctoral degree and empower women in Afghanistan, while helping to rebuild that country through stable government.

Gatheru plans to pursue a public service career that empowers and supports culturally competent, community-based environmental solutions — particularly focusing on centering the expertise of frontline communities of color.

“The environmental movement is at a crucial crossroads. We have only 12 years to create climate policy that works to both decarbonize our economy and center equity. I want to help make that happen,” she said.  At Oxford, Gatheru is pursuing dual master’s degrees in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance and Evidence-based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation. While there, is researching overlooked barriers that prevent people of color from participating in the environmental field.

Gatheru is the proud daughter of two Kenyan immigrants and grew up in Pomfret before spending a year in Thailand as a Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Scholar of the U.S. State Department. That experience, which she completed just before entering UConn, solidified her commitment to culturally competent conservation, UConn Today reported.

Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England—ranked the #1 university in the world in some global rankings—and may allow funding in some instances for four years. Gerson called the Rhodes Scholarships, "the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates."  This year’s selections were made virtually for the first time, due to the pandemic. 

Women were eligible for the first time in 1976. A total of 3,548 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, including 32 this year, representing 326 colleges and universities. Yale University has had 252 Rhodes Scholars since the first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford more than a century ago, in 1904. Southern was founded in 1893; the University of Connecticut in 1881.

Criteria for selection include, first and fundamentally, academic excellence. A Rhodes Scholar should also have great ambition for impact, and an ability to work with others and to achieve one’s goals. In addition, a Rhodes Scholar should be committed to make a strong difference for good in the world, be concerned for the welfare of others, and be acutely conscious of inequities. Gerson also noted that “a Rhodes Scholar should show great promise of leadership. In short, we seek outstanding young people of intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service.”