2020-21 Remembrance Scholars Announced Monday by Kelly Homan Rodoski (SU News May 11, 2020)
Syracuse University’s Remembrance Scholar Selection Committee has chosen the 35 students who will be the 2020-21 Remembrance Scholars.
The scholarships, now in their 31st year, were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the 35 students who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Those students, who were returning from a semester of study in London and Florence, were among the 270 people who perished in the bombing. The scholarships are funded through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations.
Significant support for the Remembrance Scholarships has been provided by Jean Thompson ’66 and Syracuse University Life Trustee Richard L. Thompson G’67 in memory of Jean Taylor Phelan Terry ’43 and John F. Phelan, Jean Thompson’s parents; by Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus Steven Barnes ’82 and Deborah Barnes; and by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation.
Selection Process
Remembrance Scholars are chosen in their junior year through a rigorous, competitive process. Applicants submitted an essay and a reflective response in multimedia, artistic, musical or written format as part of a comprehensive application, and finalists were interviewed by members of the selection committee, composed of University faculty, staff and current Remembrance Scholars. The $5,000 scholarships are awarded on the basis of scholarship, leadership and service to the community.
“The students selected as the 2020-21 Remembrance Scholars represent a diverse range of majors, interests and life experiences,” says Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Chris Johnson. “They will bring scholarship, leadership, service and passion to their work of continuing the important tradition of remembrance at Syracuse University in the coming academic year.”
Additionally, two students from Lockerbie come to Syracuse each year for one year of study through the Syracuse-Lockerbie Scholarships, also in their 31st year. The scholarships are jointly funded by Syracuse University and the Lockerbie Trust. Aidan Kevans and Mary Ann McVey were recently selected as the 2020-21 Lockerbie Scholars.
The Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars plan the Remembrance activities held at the University each year. The scholars will be recognized during a convocation in the 2020-21 academic year.
The 2020-21 Remembrance Scholars, their hometowns, majors, and schools and colleges are:
Vasundhra Aggarwal of Delhi, India, a student in the School of Architecture and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Andrew Benbenek of Cicero, New York, studying broadcast and digital journalism through InclusiveU;
Isaiah Brooks of Springfield, Virginia, an acting major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts;
Cara Christian of Manhattan Beach, California, a theater management major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts;
Linzy Dineen of Walkill, New York, a triple major in forensic science, biology and psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Amelia Dome of North Potomac, Maryland, a double major in public health in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and in policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs;
Alimat Durodola of Brooklyn, New York, a double major in economics and policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School;
Anna Feldman of New York, New York, an environmental engineering major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Alexander Giudice of Nesconset, New York, a biology and neuroscience major in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Tighe Gugerty of Homer, New York, a double major in physics and philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Annelise Hackett of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, a public relations major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Justine Hastings of Brooklyn, New York, a dual major in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and secondary English education in A&S and the School of Education and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Jewél Jackson of Louisville, Kentucky, a newspaper and online journalism major in the Newhouse School;
Elizabeth Kunnel of Glenview, Illinois, a biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Sarah Li of Chongqing, China, a triple major in policy studies and economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School and in philosophy in A&S;
Patrick Linehan of Derry, New Hampshire, a dual major in newspaper and online journalism in the Newhouse School and policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Lauren Miller of Arlington Heights, Illinois, a photojournalism major in the Newhouse School and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Simran Mirchandani of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, a triple major in biochemistry and Spanish in the College of Arts and Sciences and in economics in A&S and the Maxwell School and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Victoria Munley of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, a music education major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the School of Education;
Miranda Nemeth of Grand Island, New York, a triple major in international relations in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School, psychology in A&S and citizenship and civic engagement in the Maxwell School and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Kylie Nikolaus of Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, an electrical engineering major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Josie O’Gorman of Knoxville, Tennessee, an advertising major in the Newhouse School;
Osatohanmwen Onaghinor of Miami, Florida, a biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences;
SehYeon Park of Sacramento, California, a policy studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Gabrielle Phillips of Rockville, Maryland, an inclusive elementary and special education major in the School of Education;
Haley Robertson of Plymouth, Massachusetts, a magazine journalism major in the Newhouse School;
Alec Rovensky of Oceanside, New York, a student in the School of Architecture and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Sameeha Saied of Orlando, Florida, a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences;
Pritika Seshadri of Simsbury, Connecticut, a double major in women’s and gender studies and English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
Andrew Seymour of Northbrook, Illinois, a dual major in public relations in the Newhouse School and sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School;
Canab Sheekh Nuur of Syracuse, New York, a political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School;
Gursimar Singh of Warwick, New York, a public health major in the Falk College;
Daijha Thompson of East Cleveland, Ohio, a dual major in public relations in the Newhouse School and political philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences;
D’Angelo Valdez of Miami, Florida, a sociology major in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School; and
Louisa Williams of Delran, New Jersey, a dual major in supply chain management in the Whitman School of Management and information management and technology in the School of Information Studies.