Established by the ������̳ Academic Council in honor of Chester Gillis, the dean of the ������̳ from 2008 to 2017, the annual award recognizes and celebrates up to two students who embody the values of a liberal arts education rooted in the Jesuit tradition.

“Our students are extraordinary, and this award is an opportunity to highlight two who exemplify the values at the heart of a Georgetown education,” said advising dean . “Their service and commitment to the community here on campus is a jumping off point for the change they will go on to make in the wider world, as people for others.”

This summer, Shah moved to Hawaii to begin his training as a teacher with Teach for America, and Sun is conducting research in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health.

Naveen Shah (C’25)

A week after Shah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in government and computer science in May, he hopped on a one-way flight to O’ahu, Hawaii. Once he arrived, he spent several weeks training to be a middle school math and science teacher with Teach for America and has been using his free time to explore O’ahu before the school year begins.

When Shah thinks of teaching, he recalls his favorite Georgetown motto: cura personalis, or care of the whole person. 

“There is a great deal of research on the importance of social-emotional learning, or a more holistic approach to instruction which aims to strengthen students’ capabilities to manage their own emotions, relationships and develop confidence in their own decision-making abilities,” Shah said. “My goal is to grow students in this dimension while maintaining rigor with academics, in the spirit of cura personalis.”

At Georgetown, Shah was involved in several extracurricular activities. He started working with the nonprofit Hatch Tutors the fall of his first year and is still contributing to the tutoring organization. Shah is currently re-designing the backend software that helps match students with tutors. 

Shah also joined the ������̳ Academic Council, which he served for four years, and as a first-year student. 

During the spring semester of his first year, he traveled with the team to the national championships at the United States Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando, Florida. There, he met two representatives from ACEing Autism, a nonprofit organization providing sports related intervention for children with autism. It inspired Shah to start an ACEing Autism program .

As a junior, Shah spent five months as a teaching assistant for the data structures course in the Department of Computer Science.

“I appreciate the Chester Gillis Award as a recognition of the impact work I have done during my time at Georgetown,” Shah said.  

Harry Sun (C’26)

This summer, Sun, a biology major and philosophy minor, is researching immune cell interactions and their implications on tumor immunity at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health.

The research is extremely personal for Sun. He recently lost his mother to cancer.

“I am still emotionally processing everything, along with my siblings and relatives overseas,” he said.

Sun takes pride in the breadth and depth of his research and hopes to carry it forward for others. He said that receiving the Chester Gillis Award has allowed him time to reflect on the Jesuit values that encourage intellectual curiosity, justice and a commitment to others.

“The Jesuit values of cura personalis and has taken me to diverse realms as a lab researcher and nursing home volunteer, the latter of which I’ve spent summer weekends teaching word games and playing piano for residents,” Sun said. “Cura personalis has also informed my role as a caregiver for my recently passed mom, teaching me to reconcile moments at the hospital with her with emotional conversations at home.”

Sun’s academic program in the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences has largely framed the research he does. His biology major has informed his love for immunology and his philosophy minor challenges him to take other perspectives, predict counterarguments and consider the underlying ethics of future therapies, he said.

At Georgetown, Sun volunteers as a first responder with . He has also held leadership roles in , working as the head of purchasing and connecting with distributors and local minority-owned businesses to expand campus offerings.

The summer after Sun’s first year, he began working in a lab at UConn Health, and that fall, he joined the lab of , a professor of oncology and pharmacology at Georgetown’s School of Medicine and a member of the . Sun currently studies cancer immunology at Wellstein’s lab and neuroimmunology at the Jin Lab in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is a part of the National Institutes of Health. 

Sun’s goal is to ultimately build novel treatments for cancer patients like his mom, he said.

After graduating from Georgetown, Sun plans to enroll in an MD/Ph.D.program. He is also interested in exploring research opportunities abroad to further his understanding of tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy.

“To me, the Jesuit tradition is like a veil through which the world unravels, shedding light on the goals I feel inspired towards and how I can best pursue them,” Sun said.

(Top photo of Harry Sun by Tiffany Pham)

The awards ceremony, which takes its name from the ancient Greek word for trophy, honors graduating seniors for their outstanding accomplishments, both within and outside of the classroom. This year, Alanna Cronk (C’23) was awarded the Coakley Medal, Alisa Colon (C’23) the Kraft Medal and Sam Telesa (C’23) the Louis McCahill Award. Amira Ali (C’23) delivered the Cohonguroton Address.

Alanna Cronk

Alanna Cronk, who is Ventureño Chumash, received the Coakley Medal, which is awarded annually to the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, most embodies the “qualities of loving service, honor and courage in all phases of their college life.”

Cronk, a philosophy major with minors in English and public health, has been active on campus since arriving as a transfer student from Chapman University just two years ago. In that time, she has received a multitude of accolades, including the Ryan Medal, bestowed by the ; the Hypatia Diversity Prize, awarded by the academic journal Hypatia; the Penner Research Award, given through the and the G+JI Fellowship, awarded by the .

Cronk recently submitted an honors thesis titled “Community vs. Carcerality: Weaving Logics of Care in Policy and Programs for Indigenous Peoples Experiencing Suicidality.” According to Cronk, she’s been interested in the carcerality of psychiatric care since taking her first disability studies course with , an adjunct lecturer in the .

“In my thesis, I wanted to integrate the things I had learned about Indigenous philosophy and the practical knowledge I was gaining in public health,” said Cronk. “As a Ventureño Chumash person, and given that American Indian/Alaska Native peoples have the highest rates of death by suicide, I felt really compelled to spend time breaking down how the medical and legal systems fail to provide equitable care, cause harm while proposing some theoretical and practical solutions in this space.”

She has worked as a research assistant with , an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, helping coauthor a paper on federal identity recognition politics and their impact on indigenous and disability communities.

“I do not hesitate when I write that Cronk is the very best student that I have had the opportunity to work with in my career,” wrote Nahwilet Meissner.

In her time on the Hilltop, Cronk also served as a board member of the Circle of Indigenous Students’ Alliance (CISA), where she developed a partnership between the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and CISA that allows students to access the museum’s archives.

“I have learned a great deal about myself,” said Cronk of her time at Georgetown. “The incredible resources here allowed me to develop the best parts of myself and challenge myself in ways that made me so much stronger. My time at Georgetown has taught me about the importance of community and developing relationships. The work I have done with the University has always involved collaboration, and working in partnerships always brings together diverse energies that create amazing outcomes.”

Cronk is excited for the next chapter in her life, embracing graduation with the nuanced perspective of a philosophy major.

“Life constantly changes, and I want to move with it,” said Cronk. “I was grateful every day I was here. I take away enormous amounts of appreciation for my brilliant friends, my incredible Professors, the gorgeous land around campus and, of course, the warm memories of late-night Wisey’s runs.”

The Coakley medal was established in memory of Henry “Hank” Coakley, a Georgetown alumnus and U.S. Air Force pilot, by his wife, Elizabeth Coakley.

Alisa Colon

Alisa Colon received the Kraft Medal, given to the graduating student who embodies a “spirit of humility, cooperation and commitment as a woman or man for others in all facets of college life.”

Originally from the Boston area, Colon has made the most of her time on the Hilltop, majoring in justice and peace studies and minoring in women’s and gender studies. Colon worked as a teaching assistant for , an associate professor in the Department of English, with whom she took several classes.

“Ms. Colon distinguished herself as an insightful reader, thoughtful interlocutor and creative thinker,” said Phillips. “She has a real talent for unpacking difficult theoretical texts and translating them into colloquial language for her peers.”

Outside of the classroom, Colon has been consistently active and engaged. She co-founded the Black Survivors Coalition, a student-run organization dedicated to empowering sexual assault survivors. She also served as a student representative on the Main Campus Core Curriculum Committee’s Engaging Diversity Revision Subcommittee and as the vice president of programming for the Interhall Council. Last summer, Colon interned with PwC through a program focused on nonprofit consulting.

The Kraft Medal was established by Mrs. Cornerlia Kraft McKee in memory of her mother, Katherine Kraft. 

Sam Telesa 

Sam Telesa received the Louis McCahill Award, given to the student of the graduating class who has “shown perseverance and determination of a high order in pursuing his or her educational objectives at Georgetown.”

Telesa is a student-athlete and anthropology major who balanced his time between the classroom, the weight room and the gridiron. Born in American Samoa and raised in Hawaii, Telesa was able to connect his coursework in anthropology with his own family’s history, dissecting the complex relationship between colonialism and academia.

Telesa is part of the Baker Scholars Program, a highly-selective and prestigious program open to students in the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences who possess a demonstrated interest in business and have strong records of academic achievement, community service and leadership.

Professors and coaches alike have noted Telesa’s natural leadership ability. Telesa served as co-president of the Georgetown University Christian Athletes organization and led weekly chapel services for the football team. 

Alongside a demanding academic and athletic schedule, Telesa worked several jobs, as a curriculum assistant for the Georgetown Scholars Program, a site coordinator for the Washington National Youth Baseball Academy and a field engineer intern for a local construction company. After graduating, Telesa will pursue a graduate degree and play football at the University of New Mexico.

The McCahill Award was established in 1960 by Mr. Eugene McCahill and Mr. Francis McCahill in memory of their brother, Louis, who died in the service of his country in the First World War.

Amira Ali

Amira Ali delivered the Cohonguroton Address at the invitation of the dean, Rosario Ceballo. Taking its name from the Algonquin word for the Potomac River, the Cohongurton Address is delivered by one of the graduating class’s most outstanding students.

Ali, a double major in psychology and government, has been active inside the classroom and around campus during her time at Georgetown. While on the Hilltop, Ali co-founded Guzaarish, a competitive Bollywood fusion dance team that has traveled to five competitions across the country and was invited to perform at Vice President Kamala Harris’ Diwali party. Ali also served as president of the GU Moot Court Team and co-student director of the Georgetown Chapel Choir. 

In her remarks, Ali highlighted the names of Georgetown’s unsung heroes, including Washington Walker, a GUTS bus diver; Mo Ogbes, a security guard at Lauinger Library and Lindbergh Barrett, a member of the facilities team for the Village C residence hall.

“That’s the beauty of this campus community – in the ICC, in the VCW lobby, at the Lau 2 tables at 3 am, I have found more love in the corners of this university than anywhere else,” said Ali. “And that’s why Mo, Washington and Lindbergh matter so much: They care for and from the corners.”

Ali encouraged the gathered graduating students to make the most of their education by shaping the world around them with the tools they’ve acquired at Georgetown.

“At Georgetown, we were taught how to grapple with the challenges of our generation – to see innovative solutions, to see things deeply, to see what could be rather than what is,” said Ali. “Georgetown gave us the space to experiment to this end, to imagine our future free from the confines of what is strictly practical, to imagine all that is possible.”

After graduating, Ali will work as a national security paralegal for Morrison & Foerster, a legal practice located in Washington, DC.

Marc Howard

, a professor in the , received the Bunn Award for Faculty Excellence. , a program associate in the (PJI) accepted the award on Howard’s behalf and delivered remarks.

Established in 1967 to honor Rev. Edward B. Bunn, S.J., the award is chosen by a vote of the senior class and presented to the member of the ������̳ faculty who “is admired and respected by all students for their service to Georgetown in the classroom and on the campus community.”

Howard is the founding director of the PJI, which houses a slew of programs aimed at addressing the mass incarceration crisis. Within the PJI, Howard teaches the popular Making an Exoneree course, in which students investigate likely wrongful convictions and produce short documentary films highlighting those cases. To date, five exonerees, including Jones, whose stories have been told through the class have either been exonerated or released.

In addition to the Making an Exoneree course on campus, the PJI has an impact off the Hilltop. The PJI’s Prison Scholars Program gives incarcerated individuals in Washington, DC and Maryland the opportunity to take classes while in prison and eventually earn a degree from the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences. Their Paralegal Program, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizen Affairs and the DC Department of Employment Services, gives returning citizens a path to a paralegal career. The Pivot Program awards a non-credit-bearing certificate in business and entrepreneurship to formerly incarcerated individuals, which is awarded on the basis of both academic work and supported employment.

and review the full list of awardees.

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The sisters are outstanding scholars, immigration activists and organizers who have moved mountains to attain a college degree. And they’re not interested in pulling the ladder up behind them – the Cruz-Morales twins want to help other undocumented, low-income students navigate the system of higher education. 

The Long Road to the Hilltop

The Cruz-Morales sisters immigrated from Oaxaca, Mexico when they were just 4 years old. As such, they are considered undocumented students who have protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. 

Undocumented students face significant hurdles when pursuing higher education – fewer funding sources are available, some fellowships bar applicants based on their citizenship, and many institutions place additional barriers to entry. Cognizant of the financial and logistical complications associated with a four-year university, the Cruz-Morales sisters decided to first pursue a two-year degree closer to home.

At Bergen Community ������̳, the sisters excelled — making straight As in every single class, gaining acceptance into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, taking courses in the Judith K. Winn School of Honors, engaging in clubs outside of class time, and working three jobs each. Melanie remembers working nearly 39 hours a week as a tutor, a receptionist at a grooming salon and a seller at a farmers market for a local pickle company on top of her 15-credit hour course load.

During all of that, the Cruz-Morales sisters established their own nonprofit organization, ������̳ Access for Non-Citizens, or C.A.N. for short. 

“������̳ Access for Non-Citizens is a community-based organization that helps undocumented, first-generation, low-income students of color attain access to higher education,” explained Melanie. “We help those students with state financial aid applications, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, college application processes and counseling – ensuring that people can access the resources they need.”

Among the many resources that C.A.N. offers, the Cruz-Morales sisters are particularly proud of the fundraisers and mutual aid events they have organized to assist DACA recipients pay for the biennial renewal application fee. 

Their hard work, in the classroom and out, paid off when the sisters were accepted to Georgetown as transfer students. 

Making the Most of Georgetown

The Cruz-Morales sisters transferred to Georgetown in 2020 right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Hoyas were learning remotely. Even so, they built a rich community of first-generation students on campus.

“We were transfers during the pandemic living on campus and doing virtual classes,” remembered Sheila. “Despite that, we were able to cultivate such a beautiful community on campus with other first-generation students.”

The Cruz-Morales sisters immediately hit the ground running when they arrived on the Hilltop. In their first semester, both sisters were elected to the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA). Melanie was elected the vice speaker of the Senate and the following year assumed the role of speaker, and Sheila served as the chief communications officer for GUSA. As part of GUSA, they continued their advocacy for undocumented and low-income students, helping funnel university and federal resources for students adapting to the reality of the pandemic. 

Sheila is a government major and a women’s and gender studies minor. Melanie is a double major in philosophy and government. In their academic paths, Melanie was drawn to the after hearing about “this really cool professor” Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò in community college. 

“When I came to Georgetown, I sought out Professor Táíwò’s class on the philosophy of reparations,” said Melanie. “That has been a very impactful experience to be a philosopher and learn from one of America’s most prominent philosophers. It’s the opportunity that you only get at Georgetown.” 

Sheila decided to minor in women’s and gender studies because of , a veteran political strategist and analyst who has taught a course on women in American politics for more than two decades in the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences. 

“Taking Professor Brazile’s course nurtured my love for gender studies and activism,” said Sheila. “Professor Brazile is empowering and inspiring and she let us know that we can be the people who are shaping this country.” 

Both Sheila and Melanie have worked as teaching assistants in subsequent semesters for Brazile.

“As a professor and strong advocate for civic engagement of young people, I am extremely proud of the Cruz-Morales sisters,” said Brazile. “They are extraordinary women and a great example of women who dare to make a difference.”

The Cruz-Morales sisters have also made a difference outside of the classroom. Melanie received both a fellowship at the and an internship at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Sheila has completed internships at the Housing Partnership Network and the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, advocating for more federal affordable housing opportunities. Both sisters are members of the (GSP). 

“Sheila and Melanie have been so good to Georgetown,” said Melissa Foy, executive director of GSP.  “Whether advocating for students with marginalized identities or for more resources for programs like GSP, I truly can’t imagine Georgetown without them. Their futures are exceptionally bright, and Georgetown will be so proud to call them alumnae.”

Setting the World on Fire

The Cruz-Morales sisters continue to advocate for immigration reform and marginalized identities on a larger stage. In the fall of 2023, Sheila and Melanie were invited to an event at the White House with President Biden. At the event, Sheila spoke with President Biden about the importance of immigration reform, creating a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants. 

Sheila has even made a cameo in one of Biden’s recent . 

“It was a true testament to how impactful Sheila’s work has been,” Melanie said of her sister. “In the video, you can see Sheila say ‘immigration reform for all 11 million.’ It speaks to the power Sheila had at that moment to represent an entire community of people.”

After three years on the Hilltop, the Cruz-Morales sisters are glad they decided to transfer to Georgetown. Both sisters are planning to apply to law school, and in the meantime, will continue to live in Washington, DC, and work in politics.

“When we arrived at Georgetown, we wanted to soak up everything in the short amount of time we had,” said Sheila. “I am grateful and humbled to say we accomplished so much more than we ever intended. It’s because of hard work and persistence, but also because of the magic that can only happen at Georgetown.”

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“It is a great honor,” said Reynolds, an Assistant Professor in the . “I hope that this recognition further highlights the import and impact of the study of disability as a central facet of human experience.” 

Reynolds is one of just 12 individuals elected to join the , a group composed of scholars whose work has “informed scholarship and public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science and technology.”

Disability is Part of Life

Together with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a bioethicist and professor emerita at Emory University, Reynolds recently founded the . The book series aims to show that “disability in all its forms and meanings is relevant to every person, family, community, and society across human history.” For Reynolds, that truth needs to be shared.

“So much ethical inquiry across millennia and across otherwise disparate traditions has treated disability as an aberration from the course of human life and society or, worse, as something inevitably bad and suffered,” said Reynolds. “That’s just false. I hope that this recognition further highlights how disability studies is integral to responsible research in ethics — in bioethics and public health in particular.” 

Reynolds is a prolific writer and editor in the field of disability studies. In 2021, Reynolds founded . Last year, Reynolds published The LIfe Worth Living, a book he describes as “a philosophical challenge to the ableist conflation of disability and pain.” He is currently working on several studies that examine the impact of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and concurrently finalizing two solo-authored books and two co-edited volumes. Reynolds is also working on a multi-year, mixed-methods research project funded by The Greenwall Foundation on the relationship between concepts of disability and quality of life measurements. 

The Hastings Center

Founded in 1969 by philosopher Daniel Callahan and psychoanalyst Willard Garylin, The Hastings Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that addresses social and ethical issues in health care, science and technology. The Hastings Center was critical to establishing the field of bioethics and is the oldest independent, interdisciplinary research institute of its kind in the world.

“The Hastings Center has long been a leader in analyzing and deepening public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science and technology,” said Reynolds. “We are living in a period of time where the dire need for ethical analysis and insight is viscerally apparent as is the dire need for a disability justice framework if we are to face humanity’s challenges equitably.” 

Prior to his election as a fellow, Reynolds served as a senior advisor for The Hastings Center  and held the inaugural Rice Family Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics and the Humanities, where he worked under .

“The Rice Family Postdoctoral Fellowship builds upon the central role of humanistic inquiry that’s been at The Hastings Center since its path-breaking, field-creating inception in 1969,” said Reynolds. “That fellowship was transformative for me as a scholar, researcher and even as a person, and I’m extremely grateful to be in a position to continue to think, learn and research with the Hastings team.”

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“The field of philosophy of disability has been around since at least the nineties, and it has steadily grown,” explains Reynolds, who founded the journal last year. “But there has never been a dedicated, scholarly outlet for debates in the field to develop according to their own terms and for scholars working in the field to have a very focused place to engage with one another.”

That all changed last year, when the journal’s first issue made waves in the disability studies space. Reynolds, an Assistant Professor in the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences and a Senior Research Scholar in the , is one of the core faculty members of the ������̳’s . Pulling together funding and resources from disparate sources was essential to getting this project started. 

“I was grateful to work with the Philosophy Documentation Center to get it up and running, thanks to the very generous support of Georgetown University,” Reynolds says. “It would not exist without Georgetown, so I’m very thankful to them.”

Building Space, Inviting Conversation

Reynolds edits the journal alongside , a philosophy professor and bioethicist at Gallaudet University. In an opening salvo framing the journal’s purpose and intent, the two outlined the need for such a journal. 

“By virtue of the centrality of disability to all life, philosophy of disability is a field that touches upon nearly every area of philosophical inquiry,” they wrote. “The Journal of Philosophy of Disability has been founded to be a locus for deepening philosophical debates around disability, which is to say, a locus for deepening philosophical debates about a central aspect of being human.”

The journal includes more than just peer-reviewed articles, which are an important part of growing the field as a unique academic space, and also publishes book reviews, editorials, invited pieces from eminent scholars and even reprints of landmark works. In short, the journal is a home and focal point for all things related to the philosophy of disability. 

For Reynolds, the journal brings together two groups of people – those who are committed to building out disability studies in higher education through programs and initiatives and those who are committed to building out the research side, through peer-reviewed articles and edited volumes. 

“There’s a natural synergy here,” Reynolds explains. “We need people doing this work – doing it together and doing it in conversation with one another. I think people are very happy that it exists, that it’s open access, and that it’s sparking debates in good ways, sparking genuine conversations that are rooted in disability experience.”

The managing editor is Sabrina Leeds, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy. The journal’s work intersects with the ������̳’s , giving another platform for professors and students to expand their studies and research. 

“I hope that the journal sparks conversations about what, exactly, philosophy of disability is and how it is distinct from, but always in conversation with, disabled philosophy, disability studies, philosophy of medicine, bioethics and phenomenology,” Leeds says. “I think that clarifying the differences between these areas, examining what each of them can do for us and mapping out the contours of the ongoing conversations between them has the potential to provide us with novel conceptual tools that might be practically useful for the purpose of disability rights activism and the pursuit of intersectional liberatory projects.”

The second issue promises to live up to that aspiration,exploring definitions of disability and how those interact with lived experiences. The journal includes a piece from Thomas Nadelhoffer, a professor at the ������̳ of Charleston, that explores how individuals with chronic pain have been excluded from the discussion of disabilities. Another important piece is from , a professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and director of the Disability Studies program, on how diseases are defined and the ways in which those definitions matter. 

“Our main vision for the future is one of enriching ongoing debates and research,” says Reynolds. “We are building out new areas of inquiry inside of philosophy of disability and are helping to sustain a growing community of philosophers of disability.”

Organized by the ������̳ Academic Council, the colloquium is open to student researchers from all of the university’s schools. This year’s colloquium featured research from 22 students, including 18 from Georgetown’s ������̳ of Arts and Sciences. 

The breadth of research on display was vast, touching on topics as disparate as how Confucian martyrs functioned in the Joseon kingdom of Korea and how access to cell phones empowers women in rural India. 

Reclaiming a Confucian Martyr 

Gene Kim (C’23) presented her paper Jeon Bulgwan: Confucian Martyr, Confucian Victim, which came out of a class taught by , a lecturer in the . 

Bulgwan, an enslaved Korean courtesan who lived during the 16th and 17th centuries, was elevated as a martyr after her suicide. Kim’s research situates the phenomenon of Bulgwan’s martyrdom within the social, political and religious structures of Joseon, the dynastic kingdom of Korea in which she lived.  

“There was very little existing research,” Kim says. “I felt as though I was bringing a new idea to life rather than merely reorganizing old ideas.” 

Kim describes the Joseon Dynasty as highly regulated. Women, in particular, had a difficult time modulating their behavior to fit expectations. After being ordered by a different official to serve him, Bulgwan chose to end her own life rather than be unfaithful to her previous partner. The story of Bulgwan was told, in several variations, to uphold the ideals of Confucianism. 

Kim’s research extracts Bulgwan from the confinement of her martyrdom, giving her agency and seeking to understand how a woman can both be crushed by a system and exalted by it. 

“I am particularly proud of this research because it was a unique opportunity to combine my Theology major with my Korean minor,” says Kim “And I am grateful to Professors Morici and Choi for their guidance.”

A Call for Household Agency

Solveig Baylor (C’22), a double major in economics and philosophy with a minor in math, wrote her senior thesis on how access to cell phones empowers women in rural India. 

Baylor’s analysis used an existing data set to measure how access to a cell phone affected household consumption. Cell phone access in India cleaves along gender lines, reducing a woman’s ability to inform household decisions, arrange safe travel and engage with news media. Baylor’s research builds on the existing literature that establishes why, for a variety of economic and cultural reasons, women face barriers to access cell phones in rural India. Household consumption, and the decisions that influence it, records far more than a simple ledger of transactions. 

“The household is the base unit of a community,” Baylor explains. “Understanding the forces that affect its consumption outcomes can have far-reaching implications for different types of policy.”

Baylor found that households in which a woman accessed a mobile phone spent their resources differently, decreasing overall household consumption while increasing money spent on food and household finances. 

“The savings behavior and increased nutritional concern of households point to greater development in rural India,” Baylor reflects. “Mobile phones can change the horizon on many fronts: human development, poverty eradication and gender equality.”

Sherman, a philosophy professor in Georgetown’s ������̳ of Arts and Sciences, holds affiliate appointments with Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security and the Law and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. She is a New York Times Notable Author whose work focuses on how classic Greek and Roman thought applies to modern times.

“Professor Sherman’s work is emblematic of the best research in the humanities,” says Rosario Ceballo, dean of the ������̳ of Arts & Sciences. “By thoughtfully engaging with the past, her scholarship gives fresh insight into the most pressing matters of today, from ongoing wars to deathly pandemics. Her election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is well-deserved and should be applauded.”

Her most recent book, Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience, was published last year and explores how stoic philosophies can bring calm and tranquility in the face of stress and anxiety. While on leave from Georgetown, Sherman held the Inaugural Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the US Naval Academy. Spurred by both her time at the Academy and Georgetown students returning from conflict, Sherman wrote several books on “the moral challenges of going to war and returning home.”

“I was absolutely stunned in receiving the letter of welcome into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,” Sherman says. “It is a terrific honor to be a member. I look forward to continuing my scholarship and am grateful to Georgetown for supporting my academic work over the years.”

At Georgetown, Sherman has taught and lectured on a wide range of topics, including Aristotelian and Stoic ethics, the philosophy of war and moral psychology. She has published more than 60 articles and has received numerous honors and fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among many others.

“Nancy Sherman’s induction into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is a fitting tribute to Professor Sherman’s deeply impactful scholarship,” says , Vice Dean of Faculty and a professor in the . “Her research on ethics, in particular military ethics, has been truly groundbreaking and has compelled us all to wrestle with deeply challenging questions.”

Sherman is one of this year. Founded in 1780 by scholars including John Adams and John Hancock, the Academy has been an instrumental vehicle in furthering the public good and enriching scholastic achievement in the United States.

“The Academy was founded on the belief that the new republic should honor truly accomplished individuals and engage them in meaningful work,” said Nancy C. Andrews, Chair of the Academy’s Board of Directors in a press release. “The Academy’s dual mission continues to this day. Membership is an honor, and also an opportunity to shape ideas and influence policy in areas as diverse as the arts, democracy, education, global affairs and science.”

“I think Georgetown is in the unique position to build novel and transformative relationships with Indigenous communities around sustainability, intergenerational justice and climate justice,” says Meissner. “Centering Indigenous thought and voices in a sustainability plan feels like a natural fit — Indigenous communities have been the stewards of these lands for thousands of years, feel the most impacts from climate injustice and colonialism and have important adaptation strategies — and I’m excited to see the Office of Sustainability take up this opportunity in a meaningful and serious way.”

Meissner, who specializes in American Indian and Indigenous philosophy, feminist epistemology and philosophy of language, invited attendees to connect indigenous philosophies, like sovereignty and decolonization, to institutional efforts to create a more sustainable, equitable future for Georgetown. 

The university’s approach to sustainability recognizes a “quadruple” bottom line: people, planet, prosperity and purpose, guided by Catholic and Jesuit values and a commitment to the common good. 

“As Georgetown develops its first sustainability plan, we wanted to think about the relationship between sustainability and schools of thought such as Indigenous philosophy,” says Dan Guilbeault, the director of sustainability for campus & community. “In our discussion, we identified connections – as well as areas of tension – between Indigenous philosophy and sustainability. This included powerful concepts like relationality, opportunities to co-flourish, areas of ‘shared care,’ and the symbolism of names and terms.”

Throughout the discussion, participants focused on seeing the world as it could be, rather than as it is. The systems and institutions that have created an unequal, unsustainable current reality are not chiseled in stone, but can be rebuilt by humans just as they were constructed by humans. 

“At this event, the strong desire the students have for tangible change was so apparent,” reflects Meissner. “I am honored to learn from these students and humbled by the really compassionate futures they are trying to build. I’m looking forward to seeing how other university entities follow the example set by the Office of Sustainability in centering Indigenous voices and our phenomenal students in their planning processes.”

The university is working towards a new sustainability plan to be released in the Fall. Students, faculty and staff can get involved with the planning process by to participate in working groups, the Office of Sustainability during office hours to offer input and via the MindMixer online tool. 

“Instead of carving off our edges to fit a cookie-cutter pedagogy, she meets each student as already having their own situated knowledge and wealth of experience,” shares Lin Henke (C’23), who took Cline’s Ignatius Seminar as a first year. “As the Daoists might say, she meets us each as a piece of unhewn wood, rather than putting us on a carving block that academia can sometimes become.”

Cline’s students cite personal and academic transformations thanks to their coursework with the philosopher. 

“When you ask students to describe Professor Cline, they use words like inspiring, intelligent, genuine and someone who fosters true collaboration, community and closeness,” Dean Rosario Ceballo says. 

In the spring of 2021, a group of ������̳ seniors who had taken her course Human Flourishing: East and West as freshmen asked if they could revisit the course in their final year. Cline obliged, creating a first-of-its-kind Ignatius Seminar for seniors, which brought  together the original group of students to leverage their cumulative college experience for shared learning and reflection. 

For Katie Ho (C’22), who took Chinese Philosophy with Cline in her first semester as a student, the experience has informed the remainder of her time at Georgetown. 

“Even though we were all little boxes on screens, I could feel her warm, compassionate, intelligent and strong presence radiating outwards from her little box as soon as she turned her camera on, smiled, and asked how we were doing that day,” Ho reflects. “She is, without a doubt, one of the most special individuals I have ever had the privilege of learning from, and I am beyond grateful to have taken four courses with her during my time here at Georgetown. 

Cline is the Tagliabue Distinguished Professor in Interfaith Studies and Dialogue and a Senior Research Fellow in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. She is the author of five books. Her two most recent books are Little Sprouts and the Dao of Parenting and The Analects: A Guide, which were published in 2020 and 2021. 

Students Lauded for Interdisciplinary Paths

Also recognized by the CAC were Katie Woodhouse (C’22) and Arjun Ravi (C’22), the recipients of the 2022 Chester Gillis Award. Established in 2016 by the ������̳ Academic Council (CAC), the award recognizes students who embody the values of a liberal arts education in the Jesuit tradition, which championed during his time as Dean. 

“The award carries on Dean Gillis’s legacy by recognizing students whose work engages with Jesuit values in innovative and constructive ways,” says Lucy Doyle (C’22), president of the CAC. “Arjun and Katie have cultivated diverse intellectual commitments that span different departments and disciplines. Both embody the interdisciplinary approach esteemed by the awards.”

Woodhouse, a psychology major and music history minor, has pursued a pre-med pathway through her undergraduate studies. Bringing together these disparate disciplines has enabled Woodhouse to fully explore her academic interests and internal motivations. 

Instead of directly matriculating to medical school, Woodhouse plans to put a capstone on her Jesuit education through a year of service. After graduating in the spring, she will join the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Missoula, Montana, where Woodhouse will work as a Child Nutrition and Health Community Advocate at the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center. 

“The robust and manifold education I have received from Georgetown ������̳ is integral to my future goals in the medical field,” Woodhouse says. “I plan to practice integrative medicine, relying on cultural, social and individual status, varied therapies and a symbiotic doctor-patient relationship rather than conventional primary care.”

At every step of the way, a varied and diverse spate of study defined Woodhouse’s academic career. To fulfill her language requirement, Woodhouse pursued a unique path taking courses in American Sign Language, which led her to classes at Gallaudet University through the ������̳ Consortium of Washington, DC. 

“Social science, natural science, the humanities, language, the performing arts – they all play a critical role in my undergraduate education,” Woodhouse reflects. “I want to carry that interdisciplinary approach forward. I want to treat and understand patients with the dual skills of a trained psychologist and medical expert, delivering care led by empathy, respect and the pursuit of a greater good.”

Tech Reform, Justice in Policing

Ravi’s time at Georgetown has led him to examine the myriad ways in which evolving technology shapes and changes people’s lives through policing, criminal justice and law enforcement. 

“Over the last decade, we have witnessed a boom in automated decision-making to circumvent human bias,” Ravi posits. “Algorithms, however, are not necessarily better than humans: they inherit bias from training data and model-building. And, despite their faults, they are making life-changing decisions on everything from healthcare, hiring and education to housing, credit and welfare.”

To obtain a firsthand perspective on policing, Ravi interned with the Metropolitan Police Department, where he investigated police officer applicants, interviewed residents and reviewed body camera footage. Ravi even accompanied officers in their squad cars during nightly patrols as part of the Summer Crime Initiative – the MPD’s push to combat rising crime in the 6th and 7th police districts. 

“I visited the sites of robberies, shootings and domestic violence calls, and I learned about policing in our community,” says Ravi. “Today, some of those police officers are dear friends and mentors, but the system of policing I saw was broken.” 

In his own life, Ravi has confronted racial bias firsthand, and is cognizant of the ways seemingly impartial technologies could further entrench racial disparities. By taking on a wide array of courses in economics and mathematics, and pursuing undergraduate research opportunities, Ravi combined the academic with the personal. He studied algorithmic risk assessment in the criminal justice system with Megan Stevenson, an economist and criminal justice researcher at the University of Virginia School of Law, and congressional elections as the Fritz Fellow in Tech & Society at the . 

“At Georgetown, I have dedicated my course of study to empirically analyzing technology that affects people’s lives,” Ravi says. “Next year, I will be an Empirical Research Fellow at Stanford Law School, working on the economics of crime and fairness in machine learning. With these academic experiences, I hope to translate research into actual policy, fighting for better tech policy at every level.”

In addition to Baylor’s award, Matthew Greer-Gentis (MSB’22) received an honorable mention and Georgetown students participated out of 55 participants.

Interdisciplinary Interests

Since her sophomore year, Baylor has been interested in applying her double major in economics and philosophy towards research. During the summer of 2022, Baylor conducted research with the Seven Pillars Institute for Global Finance and Ethics where she learned how inheritance law can be a powerful means of transferring assets for women in the developing world. 

The senior says that her coursework also helped her answer the hard questions she is attempting to answer. Advising Dean Jessica Ciani-Dausch, says that she has witnessed Baylor’s knowledge base of the two subjects deepen and grow while at Georgetown.

“It’s really exciting to see now how she is connecting those studies to advance our understanding of how policies impact women globally,” says Ciani-Dausch. “I have no doubt that she’ll continue to make great contributions in the years ahead.”

Baylor is a recipient of a Provost Distinguished Undergraduate Research Fellowship, through the Center for Research & Fellowships (CRF), which funds summer research for Georgetown’s most engaged and experienced undergraduate researchers. This fellowship enabled her to “independently design and pursue a question that would become a critical learning experience for [her] professionally and personally.” 

At least one representative from each of the four main undergraduate schools participates in the Big East Research Symposium. 

At the conference, Baylor presented research on how mandating daughters’ equal intestate inheritance rights affected different types of women’s autonomy in India. Baylor explains that the 2005 Hindu Succession Act Amendment (HSAA) required nationally that in cases where there is no will present, a fairly common circumstance in under-developed rural areas, daughters must receive an equal inheritance share as sons. 

To complete her research project, Baylor used the India Human Development Survey to create indices for women’s household, personal, and financial autonomy. Theoretically, greater access to assets would increase women’s autonomy. However, Baylor found three channels that complicate this theory: the power dynamics of extended families, cultural differences across regions and economic incentives of asset transfers for the poor. 

“I found that many regions saw increases in household and personal autonomy, but some actually saw decreases in financial autonomy,” Baylor explains. “I also found that women with a marital relationship to the male household head (wives and daughters-in-law) saw decreases in personal autonomy while a woman’s natal relationship (daughter) related to her increase in financial autonomy.” 

During the event, judges grade how clearly posters are constructed and displayed, if there is sufficient background to understand the problem or hypothesis, as well as how the presenters engage the audience. Baylor’s project was one of the best at the competition.

Baylor says that Georgetown was instrumental in her success at the Big East Symposium, as well as her overall research journey. 

“Without Georgetown’s research grants, I may not have pursued research at all,” she explains. “My first research project was supported by the Royden B. Davis Fellowship, without which I could not have afforded to do independent summer research. Last summer, I received the Provost Distinguished Undergraduate Research Fellowship through the Center for Research and Fellowships. The generous funding, faculty support, and peer community created an experience reflective of my Georgetown education.”

Martin Ravallion, Ph.D. and Edmond D. Vallini Professor of Economics, mentored Baylor while she was a student and later when she worked with his as a teaching assistant.

Shareen Joshi, who served as Baylor mentor throughout her project, began meeting with Baylor when the senior reached out after noticing so many similarities in their research interests. Baylor says that Joshi’s mentorship has been invaluable, a feeling mutually held by Joshi. 

“Solveig Baylor’s passion for research is matched by an incredible personal commitment to learning complicated research methods,” Joshi says. “She is also remarkably conscientious in thinking about the real lives of people who are impacted by the policies she studies. It was a pleasure to work with her — I learned a lot!”

Additional Honorees

Greer-Gentis, a finance major with a government minor in the McDonough School of Business, earned an honorable mention for his project “Congressional Financial Transaction and Options Analysis During the 116th Congress.”

“As a finance student hoping to pursue a job in government post-grad, it was fulfilling to apply my finance major through the lens of government work,” says Greer-Gentis. “I would say my experience within the MSB senior thesis course really helped and gave guidance and feedback for my project! As a really small senior thesis cohort, I personally felt that there was more room for collaboration, discussion and pursuing self-interests.”

Greer-Gentis, who was also a Provost Distinguished Undergraduate Research Fellow, says that he felt very supported by  his advising dean Brancaforte, Lauren Tuckley and William English, assistant professor in McDonough School of Business. 

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