McPherlain was born in rural Zambia. Growing up as a weak child in a patriarchal society was hard. “I grew up feeling useless. I felt alienated in my own community.” Apart from witnessing regular violence against women, he saw his mother, a single parent, struggle to raise eight children. “I would be told that ‘being a man is to inflict and being a woman is to endure’”. He was certain that this was not an identity he wanted.

His work as an HIV activist earned McPherlain a scholarship for an International Baccalaureate Diploma in Kolkata, India. It was there that he heard about Ashoka. “What struck me about the University was its ambitious plan to introduce Liberal Arts in a nation dominated by professional institutes. Its Founders and professors spoke with a lot of conviction.

I knew I wanted to take a front seat and witness how this was going to be done.”

The multicultural environment at Ashoka also allowed him to ponder on critical social issues like gender inequality. “Maybe, one day, I will be a philanthropist who brings this kind of quality education to Zambia”, he says.

After graduating from Ashoka’s founding undergraduate class, McPherlain was admitted to the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is studying at The Graduate Institute that boasts of alumni like Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN. He has written a novel on gender-based violence, and changing gender norms, soon to be published in his country.

He hopes to work with the African Union and develop policies to give equal opportunity to women and men. He adds, “I will always be proud of Ashoka and I will always be envious of our Founders for envisioning and building it.”