The winner of the Student Personality of the Year has been announced in a ceremony taking place a year after the death of Anjool Maldé, a graduate whose own life represented ideals of soaring achievement…
Richard Kuti, a student at London South Bank University, has been named Real World Student Personality of the Year for his many accomplishments, including being elected President of his students’ union, creating enterprise opportunities for young people from ethnic minorities, helping relaunch the university’s student magazine and running events and entertainments for other students and members of his local community.
The Student Personality of the Year Award has been by run by Real World, the leading graduate careers advice magazine for the past six years. Real World rededicated the award this year in
honour of Anjool Maldé, a former runner-up, who died tragically on 5th July 2009 at the age of 24.
The award, which includes cash prizes of £1,500 for the winner and £500 for the runner-up, is supported by the Anjool Maldé Memorial Trust, which was established in memory of the Oxford
graduate, city stockbroker, socialite, journalist, musician and entrepreneur.
Among this year’s runners-up are Aadya Shukla from Oxford University, who was born in India and, despite her own tuberculosis and the death of her elder brother, played a leading role in
many parts of student life and will shortly be taking up a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard.
The Anjool Maldé Memorial Trust also supports The Anjool Malde Prize for Student Journalism, which recognises talented journalists writing for the Oxford Student and Cherwell. The prize
has been won by Tara Mulholland in the Entertainment Review category and by Anna Rawlings in the Student Issues category.
The awards ceremony was held as part of a concert in remembrance of Anjool Maldé on Friday evening (23rd July) at Moorgate in London. As well as the awards, the concert presented a showcase
of other graduate talent, including Anjlee Desai, a gifted singer and a friend of Anjool’s who grew up with him in the Tees Valley in the north-east of England.
Richard Kuti, Real World Student Personality of the Year 2010, said: “Anjool is an inspiration to all students and and I’m honoured to receive an award in his name.”
Darius Norell, Founder of Real World, said: “It’s all too easy to snipe at graduates these days, but these awards demonstrate the extraordinary wealth of ability out there. In the face of
increasing career pressure on students, it’s a pleasure to take time to celebrate what many of them are achieving every day through drive, creativity and raw talent.
“Richard is a most deserving winner and he’s only one of the many individuals with a remarkable record of accomplishment that it was our honour to meet during the judging process.”
Bharat Maldé, Anjool’s father and a founding Trustee, said: “Jools delighted in promoting talent and spurring people on to raise their sights to make the most of their rich untapped gifts.
As his parents, we extend our warm congratulations to the winners and runners-up, and indeed to all the applicants. It is our hope that the awards will act as a spur to their careers,
propelling them to inspire others through their own tales and achievements.”
Now in their sixth year, the Real World Awards honour exemplary achievement among students and recent graduates in the fields of entrepreneurship and contribution to student life. As well
as the Student of the Year Award, a number of awards are given for enterprise. Further winners will be announced later in the year. Further details at www.realworldawards.com
The Anjool Maldé Memorial Trust aims at inspiring and rewarding talent exactly in the spirit of Anjools’ own interests and initiatives during his short but memorable life. The Student of
the Year and Student Journalist of the Year awards, as well as the planned endowment at Anjool’s former college, St Peter’s College, Oxford, signpost both the focus and the direction of the
Trust’s future intentions. To support the Trust, please visit www.Anjool.org
Real World Magazine is the leading independent on-campus magazine specialising in advice for graduates about finding the right career and realising their potential. The magazine is also
available online at the website www.realworldmagazine.com, which also features a host of other content, guidance and careers opportunities.
BIOGRAPHIES OF WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
Richard Kuti, Winner, Student Personality of the Year
Richard, 22, graduated this year in Business Administration from London South Bank University and has been elected to serve as Student Union President for the coming academic year.
Previously, he was also SU President at his sixth form college.
Richard has been involved in many student-led initiatives such as Elevation Networks (a student-led social enterprise that aims to bridge the gap between underrepresented groups within
communities and industry) and student societies. He even started his own social enterprise that seeks to raise aspirations of ethnic minority youth in the UK called YBS (Young, Black and
Successful).
Aadya Shukla, Runner-Up, Student Personality of the Year
Aadya is a Microsoft Scholar reading Computer Science at Oxford (2010). As the Indian Society President, she organized events for the Bhopal Medical Appeal, ran the largest e-campaign
against attacks on students in Australia, represented students at India-Pakistan peace summit, taught technology to senior citizens, sub-edited the student newspaper, promoted student
talents on the BBC and served the Oxford Union. Her success has been in the face of bereavement and severe disease. She has received many honours including an award for best academic paper
award.
Aziz Mahdi, Highly Commended, Student Personality of the Year
Aziz is currently in the second year of a BSc in Management at Manchester Business School, part of the University of Manchester. He has served as President of the University’s Management
Society and as student representative on his course, spearheading a diverse range of initiatives in each role. He was previously a finalist for University of Manchester Undergraduate of the
Year.
Jessie Armstrong, Highly Commended, Student Personality of the Year
Jessie, 21, has graduated this year in Social Policy and Sociology from the London School of Economics, where she was organiser of Women’s Week. This included a number of campaigns as well
as staging Eve Ensler’s ‘Vagina Monologues’ raising over £2500 for three great causes. Among other activities, Jessie has led campaigns to remove sexist publications from the SU shop and to
stop sexist and homophobic heckling at Union meetings.
Anna Rawlings, Winner, The Anjool Maldé Prize for Student Journalism: Student Issues Category
Anna is reading for a masters in the Study of Religion at Mansfield College Oxford, and is News Editor for the Oxford Student. Her article on student mental health issues was unanimously
praised by the judges as an example of great investigative journalism. It is well-researched, objective and hard-hitting.
Tara Mulholland, Winner, The Anjool Maldé Prize for Student Journalism: Entertainment Review Category
Tara reads English at St Peter’s College College, Oxford, and is due to become Editor of the Oxford Student. She has written for NME and Kerrang magazines as well as having gained
internships at the BBC, the Sunday Times and the Guardian. Her interview with the Chicago band OK Go blended humour with an approachable demeanour that drew the best from her interviewees.
Runners-Up in The Anjool Maldé Prize for Student Journalism
The judges highly commended Adam Bouyamourn (St Peter’s College), former editor the Oxford Student, for his interview with Calvin Harris, and Christopher Graham (Regents Park College) for
his article in the Cherwell entitled ‘Making it Work’.
