Brenda Gutu pursues her PhD and finds herself at Gallaudet

The worst experience of Brenda Gutu’s young life turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. As a young woman, the end of her first relationship had left her devastated, and she didn’t understand why. The feeling inspired a deep desire to understand herself better.

Gutu has followed that passion all the way from Kenya to the Gallaudet campus. Soon, she’ll graduate with her second master’s degree in psychology and begin pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology.

School, church, play, eat, sleep

Gutu was born in Nyandarua County, Kenya, and raised in the village of Ol’Kalou. Her parents, now retired, worked in public service for many years. Since Gutu was young, the family has owned a nearby farm. On weekends, Gutu, her younger brother, and their parents would go to the farm and work.

Every time she returns home today, she goes back to the farm. “I love being on the farm with my father,” Gutu says. “It’s part of my identity. It helps me feel connected to the earth.”

Gutu’s family are part of the Kikuyu tribe, and speak Kikuyu at home. As a child, Gutu also used Kiswahili in the village and English at school. When her friends were outside, Gutu would run around the village and play games. When she was alone, she would make a fire outside and cook a make-believe feast. Most days, she only returned home when the sun was setting.

“School, church, play, eat, sleep,” Gutu recalls.

Meeting a mentor

After graduating from high school, Gutu enrolled at the University of Nairobi. She was sure she would eventually be a journalist, but she was most looking forward to Psychology 101.

Before classes started, Gutu went to the school library every day and read psychology books from morning till night. By the first day of class, she was still hungry for more. She walked into the lecture hall buzzing with excitement.

Gutu and her classmates were surprised to see two people walk to the front of the classroom. One of them held a microphone. The other started talking with his hands. Through the interpreter with the microphone, he introduced himself as Dr. Michael M. Ndurumo, E-’77. It was the first time that most people in the classroom, including Gutu, had seen a deaf person.

“For the next three hours, it was so silent, you could hear a pin drop,” Gutu remembers. She found herself intrigued and became determined to make Prof. Ndurumo a mentor. When her freshman class selected representatives, she volunteered herself so that she could work with him directly. Prof. Ndurumo eventually taught Gutu and several of her classmates his language, Signed Exact English (SEE).

Gutu dove headfirst into psychology. “It became my passion,” Gutu says. “I wanted to understand myself and my emotions.” She eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in counseling psychology, meriting First Class Honours. 

Gutu knew she wanted a master’s degree and started exploring her options.  Prof. Ndurumo told her about Gallaudet University. He suggested that she could learn a new language and get her education at the same time. Gutu considered it, but decided to stay at the University of Nairobi. She earned her master’s degree in community psychology.

Arriving at Gallaudet

After graduating, Gutu began looking at universities in the United States that offered PhD programs in psychology. Prof. Ndurumo reminded her of Gallaudet. This time, the suggestion stuck.

Gutu arrived in Washington, D.C. with no knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL). While her knowledge of SEE helped, she found herself struggling to keep up with the speed and complexity. She was also adjusting to a double dose of culture shock as she navigated both American culture and deaf culture. 

To this day, Gutu’s friends still tease her about how dazed she looked during that first semester. “That year was hard for me,” Gutu says. “I experienced so many challenges, especially outside of Gallaudet. Usually, I’m talkative. For the first time in my life, I was quiet all day.

Gutu’s classmate and close friend Lisa Swanson, ’05, G-’10 & G-’25, recalls, “Brenda and I joined our clinical psychology doctoral program the same year. I remember when she first arrived, everything was written out on paper with a laptop in front of her to look up words or concepts she was not sure about.”

“When I went back to Kenya after the first year, I told my parents that I’m never going back to the United States,” Gutu says. “Then I looked at my kids and I knew I had to go back. I have to teach them to never give up.”

Things improved during Gutu’s second year on campus. A class called ‘Psychology and Deafness’ with Dr. Cheryl Wu helped change her perspective. “I had to confront my internal bias,” Gutu says. “I learned to accept my position as an advocate for the deaf community.”

“Brenda always connected authentically with me and her classmates with sincere kindness, compassion, cultural humility and a genuine curiosity to learn,” Dr. Wu says. “These qualities come quite naturally for Brenda, and they lay the perfect foundation on which her clinical program can readily build upon.”

Gutu stepped out of her comfort zone by getting a front desk job at the Field House gym. There, she was forced to use ASL and improve her signing. Outside of school, she lived with deaf roommates who schooled her in deaf culture. They became part of her second family in the United States.

“Brenda has grown from a quiet student to somebody that raises her hand and speaks up in class,” Swanson says. “She is a wonderful person and truly dedicated to bettering the lives of those around her in any way she can. Brenda has worked hard to integrate herself in the Gallaudet community.”

Professional growth

Gallaudet has also helped Gutu develop her professional practice. She credits the university’s psychology program with improving her psychological assessment ability. She’s learned how to apply industry standard tests like the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V), Rorschach Inkblot Test, and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).

“When I arrived at Gallaudet, I realized that tests were the missing piece of the puzzle for my counseling practice. Sometimes relying only on what a patient is telling you isn’t enough. Tests give me a more objective tool to measure my clients’ functioning. I can understand them better and treat their specific needs.”

Gutu is currently undertaking a yearlong externship with the Psychiatric Institute of Washington. Recently, she started working with Gallaudet’s Center for Black Deaf Studies (CBDS) as a PhD Assistant. She plans to create a library of theses written by Black Deaf scholars in the United States, and then around the world.

“I finally feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Gutu says. “I want to help keep the history of Black Deaf people alive.”

A bright future

Gutu is hard at work on her dissertation proposal. The project explores the persistence of Black Deaf students in American universities and what sustains their progress toward achieving their academic goals. Gutu plans to use the findings to benefit deaf and hard of hearing students in Kenya.

After meeting Prof. Ndurumo as an undergraduate in Nairobi, Gutu began building relationships with organizations in Kenya that serve deaf people. During her undergraduate years, she interned with the Kenyan Society for Deaf Children (KSDC), working as a public relations assistant. The brief but powerful experience taught her how to advocate for deaf children.

Later, Gutu became a social worker. During a project in the town of Limuru, she was the only person in charge of 300 orphaned and vulnerable children. One day, she spotted a child having a hard time communicating with their peers. Gutu talked with the child’s teacher and grandmother, encouraging them to undertake hearing tests. When the child was found to be deaf, Gutu helped place them in a school for the deaf. They’re now thriving.

Gutu plans to return to Kenya after finishing her PhD. She hopes to use her  education and credentials to affect change on a large scale for the Kenyan deaf community. She has dreams of establishing a community psychiatric center with her mother, who has a background in psychiatric nursing.

Gutu also wants to follow in the footsteps of her mentor, Prof. Ndurumo, and become a teacher. “Whatever I do,” Gutu says, “I have to carry Prof. Ndurumo’s dream forward.”

Belonging

Gutu is amazed at how she’s changed since arriving at Gallaudet. The dazed look of her first semester has been replaced by a confident gaze. The international student who knew nothing about American deaf culture recently presented at a conference using nothing but ASL.

“ASL helped me learn to express who I am without hiding,” Gutu says.

“Gallaudet has shaped me in a beautiful way. I feel like I can communicate with anybody in the world. When I arrived, I was shy. Now, it doesn’t matter who I’m with, whether it’s a leader or a stranger on the train. I’ll talk to them.”

After countless hours of studying psychology, Gutu has finally gotten her wish. She knows exactly who she is and what she wants, while accepting that she is still a work in progress.

“I try to carry the belonging that people feel at Gallaudet everywhere I go. Whether you’re deaf, deafblind, or hearing, occupy your space. If you’re alive, you belong. Show up in your uniqueness.”

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Gallaudet offers bachelor’s, minor, and doctoral degree tracks in psychology. Visit the Psychology program page to learn more.