Kimathi Muiruri selected to attend Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar
December 17, 2021
In Grade Nine, Kimathi Muiruri represented Canada at an international youth debating competition at Oxford University in England.
Seven years later, he is set to return to the prestigious academic institution as a Rhodes Scholar.
Muiruri is among 11 Canadians that will head to Oxford in October 2022 to join a class of more than 100 Scholars from around the world who will undertake fully sponsored post-graduate studies and become part of a global community of leaders and change makers.
“To be able to study at Oxford and use the resources provided by the Rhodes Trust to advance my education are great opportunities,” he said. “It is also an honour to be part of this class of Canadian Scholars-Elect who are dedicated, talented, committed and forward-looking individuals and who represent some of the best of what Canada has to offer. To be in the same space with them embarking on this journey is very exciting.”
What are some of Muiruri’s recollections of his trip to Oxford in 2014?
“What struck me back then was how storied everything was and how embedded the University is in the landscape of the town,” he pointed out. “It seemed like an institution that was deeply identified with history of the space and the place it occupied. I remember meeting people who were much older than me, who had been at the university for a very long time, and appreciating the fondness they felt for the town and the University in their experiences and the stories they told me. Having the chance to visit the Union Chamber and hear about all the historical figures and leaders who spoke there was eye-opening. At the time, I couldn’t foresee see myself returning there to pursue my education and as a Rhodes Scholar. I don’t even think I knew then what the Rhodes scholarship was.”
At Oxford, Muiruri plans to pursue a Master in Philosophy in Environmental Change & Management. The curriculum aims to provide graduate students a broad appreciation of major processes of environmental change and of the people and institutions involved in environmental management.
The course seeks to produce environmental leaders who are interdisciplinary and analytical in their approach to environmental issues and competent and aware decision-makers.
Being part of a program dedicated to helping students analyze, understand and deconstruct the web of interconnected environmental injustices and challenges in the 21st century appealed to Muiruri who has previously researched community-based climate change resilience and United States federal policy under a leading investigator at the UNC School of Law.
“It’s a relatively young program, but it has a fantastic track record of research, alumni and faculty who really are among those at the forefront of interdisciplinary scholarship and practice in environmental challenges and solutions,” he said. “If I am admitted into the program, I hope to advance my education on issues of environmental justice, resource management, human rights and solutions for sustainable and regenerative environmental practices. The program offers learning, research, and practical opportunities that would greatly enhance my ability to engage with these issues.”
The application process opens in January 2022.
Graduating from the University of North Carolina (UNC) earlier this year, Muiruri majored in History & Environmental Studies and was a Morehead-Cain Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and an Honours Carolina laureate.
The product of Kenyan immigrants intended to major in Public Health when he arrived at Chapel Hill, where he is the 54th Tar Heel to secure a Rhodes scholarship.
He changed direction after taking a History seminar in his first year taught by Professor Jay Smith who is a specialist of early-modern France.
“In that first year, I was lucky to experience a multitude of different academic disciplines because of the liberal arts curriculum encouraged at UNC and the opportunity for exploration afforded to students,” said Muiruri who was the Editor-in-Chief of the Carolina Political Review and a member of the rugby team. “In my first and second years, I also had a number of extremely influential intellectual mentors to help me rediscover a really deep love for Humanities & Social Sciences.”
Among these mentors were Professor Arturo Escobar, who was elected to the 2021 class of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and who taught him his first course in Geography and Environmental Justice. Others included Professors Lisa Lindsay, Matthew Andrews, Lauren Jarvis and Jay Smith who encouraged and helped him to pursue his longstanding love of academic History.
“I discovered that the Humanities and Social Sciences and the study of humans in society is such a rich, complex and demanding endeavor,” said Muiruri whose senior thesis at UNC studied the social lives and political organizing of African migrant workers in 19th century South Africa. “It really is as important, if not more important, to changing the trajectory of our future than understanding scientific solutions.”
Smith said the young scholar has boundless energy, uncommon intellectual and emotional maturity, an admirable sense of purpose, humility and an all-round aura that screams ‘future star’.
“What really sets Kimathi apart are his seemingly bottomless intellectual curiosity and the eagerness with which he applies new ideas and concepts to existing problems or challenges,” he added.
Shortly after graduating last April, Muiruri took up a position as a Program Associate at the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment, a joint centre of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. It is the only university-based applied research centre and forum dedicated to the study, practice and discussion of sustainable international investment.
“My team focusses on land-based investments and a lot of my research deals with agriculture, mining and natural resource extraction in Africa, Latin America and Asia,” he said. “Our goal is to produce exceptional quality research for and technical support to governments, policymakers, communities and civil society actors to advance responsible land use, human rights respecting behaviour and investment practices that align with environmental sustainability and global climate action.”
Muiruri attended St. Isaac Jogues Catholic School in Pickering up until the sixth grade when a family member referred his parents – Mark Njoroge and Sophy Osoro -- to the African Canadian Christian Network (ACCN) which fosters and enhances the work of Black churches and community organizations to steer young people away from violence.
They started conversations about the diversity initiative with Upper Canada College (UCC) Head teacher Dr. Jim Power shortly after he was installed in 2004.
Some of Canada’s most powerful and wealthy graduated from the all-boys UCC established in 1829.
Completing Grade seven at the UCC preparatory school and Grades Eight through 12 at the upper school, Muiruri was on the Principal’s List for five years having achieved a top 10 per cent grade average among students in his grade.
An avid debater in high school, he captained Canada at the 2017 Canadian national debate team at the World Schools Debate Championship in Indonesia. He also competed at the 2017 Canadian senior national championship in Vancouver where he and his partner were runner-up. Based on their individual scores, he was voted the tournament’s top speaker.
He said the ACCN played a lasting and pivotal role in his life trajectory.
“Without their support, I would never have been connected to Upper Canada College which, in turn, gave me a great educational foundation, resources and opportunities to expand my horizon and to dream of pursuing university studies in the United States,” said Muiruri. “I think it’s a great testament to the fact that a lot of times, young people just need the opportunity to excel and succeed.”
Luck, he added, also played a role.
“I happened to be the right age when the program was at the right stage and Upper Canada College started investing into scholarships for black students,” Muiruri said. “All of those things just happened to align for me, the opportunity presented itself and I worked to make the most of it.”
Missing home badly, he plans to practice Environmental Law in Canada.
“I am a product of the people and the place that raised me,” Muiruri, who worked for social equity-focussed non-profits in St. Louis and Jacksonville, said. “Everywhere I go, I carry with me a large part of Toronto and Pickering. I would like to be part of the movement to produce positive law and policy change in Canada to improve the environmental injustice here at home, and the ones we as a country export onto the rest of the world.”
