An Oxford Uni student has quit her studies to help fund her coursemate’s degree

She’s ‘committing academic suicide’ but for noble reasons


Last night, Oxford student Layo London voluntarily left her course in order to help fund her friend’s degree who lost his funding due to a delay in receiving his visa.

Gilbert Mitullah’s managed to secure funding, but the company pulled out the payment due to delays in Gilbert obtaining his UK visa. Gilbert achieved a place at Oxford to study MSc Comparative and International Education, the first Kenyan to do so.

Four months ago, Gilbert set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise enough money to stay on his course. So far, just under £9,000 has been raised out of the £25,800 goal.

Speaking to The Tab, Art History student Layo said: “I am leaving the course voluntarily in order to use the funds that I would have spent on my degree to fund Gilbert’s education. I worked for a year and I still have some savings left over, I’ll give whatever I can to him.”

In a Facebook video, she explains that her undergraduate was funded by scholarships and she wants to extend this privilege to Gilbert.

“I can give more than the average person because of the way people have given to me. I am giving him as much as I can in order for him to continue to give to others through his dedication to educating people who don’t have access to loans”, Layo said.

“So please do not blame Gilbert. He is a lovely individual, I am committed to fighting this because it’s so much bigger than him. Funding education is a huge, huge topic.”

Last night at the Ashmolean Museum, Layo challenged Jeff Koons to donate through a spoken word performance piece. If more than the £25,800 is raised, the left over money will contribute to a fund for students in similar situations.

The pair hope to encourage Oxford and other universities to, “be kinder in their approach to students, giving them access to a fundraising manager and checking their welfare.”

You can find the Gilbert’s GoFundMe page here.