When Shark Mutulili PO ’25 became Pomona College’s first Rhodes Scholar in over 20 years, she kept the news to herself.
Though she was thrilled to learn in November that she had earned one of the world’s most prestigious international post-graduate scholarships, Mutulili knew her application process was far from over. She still had to apply to Oxford University, where two years of graduate study would be fully covered by the Rhodes Scholarship — if she was admitted.
The Rhodes Scholarship, established in 1902, enables students from around the world to further their graduate studies at Oxford.
In March, Mutulili received her Oxford acceptance letter and finally shared the news with her friends and community. She is the 13th Rhodes Scholar in Pomona’s history, with the last Pomona recipient earning the scholarship in 2003.
In her four years at Pomona, Mutuili has deeply integrated herself into campus life. This year, she has assumed the role of senior class president. She has also taken leadership positions in Resident and Housing Life, Mock Trial, Pomona’s boba cafe, Milk and Honey and the InterVarsity and First Love Christian fellowships.
According to Mutulili’s friends and co-workers, her accomplishment was unsurprising given her hard work and talent.
“She’s an amazing co-worker and leader in general,” ASPC Vice President of Finance Liz Giwa PO ’25 said. “She’s very selfless, God-fearing and just a ray of sunshine.”
As senior class president, Mutulili hosts weekly class events, oversees the class budget and sits on various ASPC committees and leadership boards. She recently organized the senior class trip to Las Vegas, a highly anticipated celebration for the graduating class.
She’s been working really hard, and she’s such a great leader,” ASPC President Devlin Orlin PO ’25 said. “[Giwa] and I take a leadership class with her at Harvey Mudd, and everyone is so impressed by her. Everyone always looks to Shark for measured leadership.”
Mutulili is a public policy analysis major, and ultimately aims to work as a public servant in her native Kenya, supporting marginalized and vulnerable groups.
“I do consider women and children especially in the African context because they tend to be silenced in their voice, their achievements, their beliefs, and the like,” Mutulili said. “I am a woman, and I have grown up in Kenya. I’ve been considered as somebody who is not worth listening to.”
Mutulili applied for the Rhodes Scholarship to further explore the world of public policy after graduation instead of immediately joining the workforce. She was drawn to Oxford’s Public Policy 1 + 1 Program, an accelerated two-year program combining a master’s of public policy with a master’s of science in public policy research.
Of the 100 annual Rhodes scholars, the Rhodes Trust accepts a specific number per country; the United States produces 32 scholars, while Kenya produces just two. Mutulili applied through the Kenyan Rhodes Constituency, not through Pomona College or the U.S. Constituency.
She submitted her preliminary application at the end of August, one of approximately over a thousand applicants for the Kenyan Constituency. Throughout the fall semester, Mutulili waited to see if she would be one of the ten finalists for Kenya. As November approached, she began to lose hope — until she received an email on Oct. 26 confirming her as a finalist.
“It was almost poetic,” Mutulili said. “I received the email after organizing senior brunch. I was walking back to my room around 2 a.m. when I looked up and saw a shooting star, and I thought about how lucky I was. Then I thought that I’m not lucky — I have put in work and God has been on my side through all of this. Right after I thanked God, the email popped up on my phone.”
Each country’s Rhodes Constituency conducts finalist interviews in person. With a finalists dinner Nov. 6 and the interview the next day, Mutulili had only a week to secure a flight to Kenya. Professor of politics David Menefee-Libey advised her to email the President’s Office to arrange flight expenses through the President’s Fund.
“He said that I was also representing Pomona,” Mutulili said, “And that they should support me.”
After securing the money for the flight, Mutulili landed Nov. 5. She said that though the atmosphere was tense, she aimed to present her authentic self throughout her interview. The day after the interview, Nov. 8, as she prepared to return to Pomona, she received the email that she had been selected as one of Kenya’s two Rhodes Scholars.
Four months later, her post-graduate future was confirmed with her Oxford acceptance letter. In her last months at Pomona, Mutulili reflected upon her undergraduate experience.
“I think of the people in this college who welcomed me, supported me and opened doors to experiencing new things,” Mutulili said. “I skydived at Pomona. I went bungee jumping for the first time at Pomona. I went skiing for the first time. So I’m so grateful to Pomona, ultimately, or just to my friends and family who’ve pushed me to be here. “
In the future, as a public servant in Kenya, Mutulili said she hopes to use sex education as a tool to change attitudes about gender norms and stereotypes and to mitigate gender-based violence.
“I don’t believe that I got these opportunities to use them on myself in any way, shape, or form,” Mutulili said. “They’re blessings and also tools that were given to me from the work my community had put into me for a particular purpose. What that purpose is, I’m not sure, but the larger goal is to give back and to continue to support and share love.“
Facebook Comments