Penn’s eight 2023 Thouron Scholars named

Seven University of Pennsylvania fourth-years and one May graduate have each received a 2023 Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Each Thouron Scholar receives tuition for as long as two years, as well as travel and living stipends.

Penn’s 2023 Thouron Scholars are fourth-years Alisa Ghura, Shivani Nellore, Winston Peloso, Gabriella Rabito, Thomas Russell, Oliver Stern, and Elena Tisnovsky, and May graduate Srinidhi Ramakrishna.

...

Gabriella Rabito, from Huntington, New York, is majoring in political science with a concentration in international relations, with a minor in modern Middle Eastern studies in the College, while also pursuing a graduate certificate in global human rights. She is interested in international human rights law, specifically mass atrocities, state-sponsored violence, systematic persecution, and wrongful detention. Rabito has been a research assistant for five Penn political science professors, and a research analyst at two think tanks, including Penn’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. She has worked as a legal intern at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project in Philadelphia, and two law firms in Washington, D.C. As a Penn Perry World House Student Fellow she received a 2022 grant to pursue research on mass atrocity prevention.  She also won the Perry World House’s Undergraduate Essay prize for her essay on refugee detention centers. A QuestBridgescholar, Rabito was a student liaison on Penn’s Trustee Committee on Local, National, and Global Engagement and a volunteer with Penn Leads the Vote. She was elected as Committee Person of Philadelphia’s 27th Democratic Ward in the May Pennsylvania primary. She is president of Penn’s Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor societychapter, a member of the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity, and an associate editor of Sigma Iota Ro Journal. She also is a member of the student groups Dischord A Cappella, Onda Latina dance troupe, and Penn Records. As a Thouron Scholar, Rabito plans to pursue a master’s degree in international relations.

Oliver Stern, from Miami Beach, Florida, is majoring in political science and history with concentrations in international relations and diplomatic history in the College. He is interested in international efforts to establish effective accountability mechanisms for human rights violations. His honors thesis examines the recent expansion of universal jurisdiction prosecutions for crimes against humanity. A Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Fellow and Perry World House Student Fellow, he helped organize President Biden’s Summit for Democracy while working as an intern at the U.S. State Department. He addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council while working as an intern for UN Watch. At Penn, he was the vice president of the Penn University Honor Council, a member of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, and an undergraduate appointee to the University Council’s Committee on Open Expression. As a Thouron Scholar, Stern plans to pursue a master's degree in human rights at The London School of Economics.

Read More on Penn Today>>