9 February 2023
Marcus Montague-Mfuni, part of the Hilton College matric class of 2018, has been named a Southern African Rhodes Scholar elect for 2023.
He learnt of the honour at the end of 2022 after undergoing an interview process which required him to return to South Africa for the interviews. Four South Africans received the prestigious scholarships after a nerve-wracking process.
Once he learnt the news, Montague-Mfuni, relieved, told The Harvard Gazette: “I think my immediate reaction was to laugh on the phone.” He then called family and friends to relay the good news.
Montague-Mfuni said being named a Rhodes Scholar was rivalled only by being accepted to Harvard University, where his primary focus is psychology, with secondary in computer science.
At Harvard, he has conducted research into oppression, discrimination and stereotyping at the Moral Psychology Research Lab. At Oxford University, he hopes to continue that research.
His goal, said Montague-Mfuni, is to pursue a Ph.D. in social psychology and to continue researching human behaviour.
He was very involved in student life at Harvard and, besides his academic work, served as President of the Harvard South African Society. In addition, he previously served as the Chair of Diversity and Inclusion at The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, and he continues to write op-eds for it.
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