Congratulations to this year’s fellows!
Each spring Columbia College awards four postgraduate scholarships to graduating seniors who have demonstrated extraordinary academic achievement, positive contributions to the wider Columbia community, and demonstrated exceptional promise in their potential to thrive in the postgraduate plans they propose. These fellowships include the Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship, awarded annually since 1932, and provides awardees with funding for one or two years of study in any field at either Cambridge or Oxford; the Harry J. Carman Scholarship which provides financial support for graduate study, for any degree, in any field, in any location; and the Henry Evans Traveling Fellowship, which supports purposeful travel in the year after graduation for new alumni to pursue imaginative projects beyond New York City. Meet this year's fellows!
Annie Cheng, CC’24, Euretta J. Kellett Fellow
Gabriel Fernandez, CC’24, Euretta J. Kellett Fellow
Zsolt Marka, CC’24, Euretta J. Kellett Fellow
A native New Yorker, Zsolt majored in environmental chemistry and pursued a special concentration in earth science. While at Columbia, he was a research assistant in the Cornish Laboratory and enjoyed working as a teaching assistant too. Zsolt has been a Hungarian scout for over 15 years and, in addition to his work within the New York Troop, he is an active member of the Hungarian-American community in the region. In particular, for the past seven years, Zsolt has volunteered for the Plastic CUP Initiative, removing and recycling waste from rivers in Hungary. These experiences with riverine pollution, and his coursework in environmental chemistry at Columbia spurred his interest in pursuing graduate studies in geochemistry to gain a deeper understanding of our complex natural environments. Next year at Cambridge University, Zsolt will pursue an MPhil in Earth Sciences, where he plans to make use of isotope systems to track the evolution of geochemical processes and contribute to groundbreaking research in developing new methods for pollution mitigation.
Tenley Roberson, CC’24, Euretta J. Kellett Fellow
Priya Chainani, CC’24, Henry Evans Traveling Fellow
Priya is from Long Island, New York and graduated with a degree in medical humanities. In her sophomore year, she joined Symposium as a teaching fellow, an opportunity which allowed her to teach a literary workshop in Jaipur, India for two weeks using the Bhagavad Gita, Confucius's Analects, and Vergil's Aeneid with the theme of “human goals” and “what is the good life?”. Two years later, she credits this experience for inspiring her Evans project, where she will return to India this summer to teach Aeschylus's Agamemnon, Life of the Buddha, and Mencius on the theme of “homecoming/displacement”. At Columbia, Priya served as President of the Class of 2024 on the Columbia College Student Council for the last two years and in her senior year she served as the co-President of Symposium. These leadership roles allowed her to engage with various parts of the student body. Whether through establishing new traditions like “Dec Day” which celebrates sophomores declaring their majors or building community within Columbia’s campus and beyond, Priya enjoys bringing people together and is excited to pursue academia in her future career.
Gabrielle Epuran, CC’24, Henry Evans Traveling Fellow
Originally from Cleveland, OH, Gabrielle pursued a classics major while at Columbia. As an Evans fellow, she will spend the summer in Selianitika, Greece, where she will join other creatives in an artistic, collaborative community, aiming to further hone her writing skills. As a writer, Gabrielle credits both Columbia and New York City for introducing her to inspiring, unique, creative academic and social experiences, which she hopes to reflect upon and pull into her fictional and cinematic writings, this summer and into the future. Following her time in Greece, Gabrielle will attend the University of Oxford as a Barry Scholar this fall, where she will pursue an MSt in Greek and Latin, which she hopes will contribute to further shaping her academic preparation for a future doctoral degree, alongside continuing to inspire her fictional novels and creative writing.
Victoria Esquibies, CC’24, Henry Evans Traveling Fellow
At Columbia, Victoria studied both Neuroscience and Latin American & Caribbean Studies. A Rocky Hill, CT native, Victoria credits her family’s heritage for inspiring her coursework at Columbia, which allowed her to delve deeper into Indigenous Latin American history and languages. As a student in the Indigenous and Diasporic Language Consortium of NYC, Victoria took Quechua Indigenous language courses at NYU, which ultimately shaped her Henry Evans Fellowship project. Her project will focus on understanding the resilience and cultural recovery practices of Indigenous Quechua women affected by the internal armed conflict in Peru. On campus, Victoria was involved with scientific research at Columbia’s medical campus and at the Columbia Zuckerman Mind Brain and Behavior Institute. Long-dedicated to multidisciplinary learning, Victoria’s interest in understanding the intersection between health and immigration as well as her advocacy work for immigrant and refugee populations in New York drives her to pursue a career in medicine, where she hopes to make medical care more accessible for vulnerable populations.
Columbia students interested in learning more about the Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship, Harry J. Carman Scholarship, Henry Evans Traveling Fellowship, and/or other fellowship programs are encouraged to connect with advisors at Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
