BY SHEENA FORDE-CRAIGG | NOV 8, 2022
President of Barbados and Chair of the Selection Committee, The Most Honourable, Dame Sandra Mason, poses for a photograph with the 2023 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar, 23-year-old Trinidadian, Alyssa Mohammed, at State House , today. (T. Barker/BGIS)
Twenty-three-year-old Trinidadian, Alyssa Mohammed, has been selected as the Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar for 2023.
The announcement was made this evening at State House, by the Secretary of the Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship Committee, Bertha Liverpool-Pilgrim.
Ms. Mohammed was chosen from among 11 candidates who were interviewed today at State House by the selection committee, which is chaired by the President of Barbados, Her Excellency The Most Honourable, Dame Sandra Mason. The other committee members are: Sir Marston Gibson, Peter Golson, Dr. Cheikh Mbengue, and Professors Evelyn O’Callaghan and Rhoda Reddock.
Before the announcement was made, Dame Sandra said: “We have had this tremendous task of choosing, unfortunately, one person, among very talented, able [and] erudite young people from across the Caribbean. It has been rough, a mammoth, herculean task because, as I said, to choose one person has been extremely difficult….
“Out of this group of young persons, every single one of them could have been given the Rhodes Scholarship…. We’re hoping that in years to come, that we could increase to two or three because we have the talent within the Caribbean.”
After hearing she was chosen to be the Rhodes Scholar-elect for 2023, an emotional and overwhelmed Ms. Mohammed said: “It feels really good … it feels amazing. It’s such an honour, and I can’t wait to give back to my Caribbean community and to our women.”
She possesses a degree in Sociology with First Class Honours from The University of the West Indies, and hopes to study for the MSc in Sociology or MPhil in Sociology and Demography at Oxford University next year.
In explaining why she would be pursuing studies in Sociology at Oxford, Ms. Mohammed stated: “I’m very passionate about our social situation here, my heart is with gender, so it’s sociology with a gender focus. We know the gender issues in the Caribbean, that’s nothing new to us; we know about the violence, we know about the sexual assault.
“I have a long history of working with women’s organisations in Trinidad and a bit regionally, and I’m excited to see what the macro perspective of an Oxford education in sociology would be able to bring, not only to me personally, but what I will be able to give back to the Caribbean community, not only for a woman on gender issues but broader issues … like crime.”
The other candidates were: Joni Spencer from Antigua; Mahalia Neely from The Bahamas; Melanie Sealy and Matthew Weatherhead from Barbados; Dominique Assing, Ukpioronfo Ikolo, Selena Roberts and Yusuf Stafford from Grenada; Jevon Charles from St. Lucia; and Niccola Mohammed from Trinidad and Tobago. Each candidate was presented with a finalist certificate by Mrs. Liverpool-Pilgrim.
The Rhodes Scholarship is the world’s preeminent and oldest graduate fellowship, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. The scholarships for Jamaica began in 1904 while those for the rest of the Caribbean were started in 1953.
The Rhodes selection process aims to choose outstanding young people with proven academic excellence, who also show exceptional character and leadership, and make an impact for good by utilising their talents to help solve humanity’s challenges.
Ms. Mohammed’s advice to young persons who wish to apply for the scholarship is: “Believe in yourself, you can do it.”
