Mitchell Scholars in Equality Studies
The US-Ireland Alliance announced the 12 George J. Mitchell Scholars selected to pursue a year of post-graduate study at universities on the island of Ireland in the academic year 2012-2013. The thirteenth class of Scholars was chosen from 300 applicants. Created in 2001, the Mitchell quickly became recognized as a highly competitive scholarship, vying with the more established Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships.
“While I was aware of the reputation of the Mitchell before I took this position, the caliber of these candidates still amazed me,” said Anne Glusker, who joined the Alliance in July as the Director of the program.
Created more than a decade ago by Trina Vargo, former foreign policy adviser to Senator Ted Kennedy, the scholarship was named in honor of Senator Mitchell’s role as chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks. Those chosen must have strong records of academic achievement, service and leadership. Regarding the impressive candidates, Vargo noted that when “an expert on water issues in sub-Saharan Africa recites a poem she’s written, inspired by Yeats’ poem Adam’s Curse that juxtaposes his stitching and unstitching of a line of poetry with the women of Senegal weaving and unweaving their hair, it leaves even the most accomplished members of the Mitchell Selection Committee feeling a bit inadequate – especially when the candidate recites it in the Wolof language!”
Mona Lotfipour
Franklin & Marshall
Equality Studies, University College Dublin
Mona Lotfipour immigrated to the United States with her family from Iran at the age of 7. As an undergraduate at Franklin & Marshall College, she is majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Health and Human Rights. She founded the F&M Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, in which 75 students helped more than 500 low-income families realize more than $800,000 in tax credits. After interning at a primary health clinic in South Africa, she saw the need for preventive health efforts to address the AIDS pandemic. She launched the ONE Goal, a program that uses soccer as a tool for public health education. The initiative matched American volunteers with South African facilitators to reach more than 300 South African youth. Interested in achieving both sustainable peace and improved health care in rural communities, she hopes to combine an academic background in conflict resolution with a medical degree in order to work with local leaders in conflict regions to create sustainable health clinics. She will study Equality Studies at University College Dublin.
Melissa Boteach
A native of Reisterstown, Maryland, Melissa obtained Bachelor's degrees in Government and Spanish from University of Maryland-College Park. She established the Fair Trade Advocacy Club at College Park to educate students about the inequities of the global trading system and to promote certified fair trade products at the university. She studied in Argentina and wrote her senior thesis on social movements related to unemployment in South America. Melissa has also been a leader in the Jewish Student Union and Jewish Excel Team. She spent two months in basic training with the Israeli military and participated in a dialogue between Jewish and Muslim women. She received the prestigious national Harry S. Truman Scholarship as well as the Oppenheimer Scholarship awarded to a University of Maryland student committed to public service. As a Mitchell scholar, Melissa received a Master's degree in Equality Studies from University College Dublin. She is a Policy Associate for Equal Opportunity and Social Justice at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.
Monica Bell
Monica graduated from Furman University with a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Political Science and Sociology. Monica is a 2002 Truman Scholar and was honored with Furman’s American Legion Medal. After graduating from college, Monica joined the staff of the South Carolina Democratic Party. She completed a master's in Equality Studies at University College Dublin as a Mitchell Scholar. After her Mitchell year, Monica attended Yale Law School, where she was President of Yale Law Women and an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She took a leave from Yale to serve as the South Carolina political director of Senator John Edwards’ presidential campaign. After graduating from law school, Monica clerked for U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie and then joined the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia as a Liman Fellow focusing on policy and appellate advocacy. As of August 2011, Monica has re-entered the academy as a Ph.D. student in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard. Monica plans to use the Ph.D. to build on her previous on-the-ground and educational experiences by pursuing a career in research and teaching on the interaction between poverty and civil legal and administrative structures.
Jasmine Weaver
Jasmin graduated with BA degrees in Philosophy and Environmental Planning from the University of Washington, where she was president of Associated Students, representing the 35,000 UW students before the administration and in the community. She was founding chair of Affordable Tuition Now!, a grassroots organization dedicated to removing financial barriers to higher education, and was the plaintiff in a successful lawsuit that blocked an illegal tuition increase and returned $1.5 million to UW students. She has lobbied state legislators on higher education issues and served as an intern to a Washington state senator. After college, she served as the Commissioner for the Washington Commission for National and Community Service. As a Mitchell, she completed a degree in Equality Studies from University College Dublin. Upon returning to the US, she spent the summer of 2005 working in the Seattle Mayor's office. Jasmin graduated in June 2006 with a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. She is currently working in the Harvard Budget Office as a Harvard Management Fellow. Her husband, Noah, is a clerk for Judge David Tatel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
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