2026 Undergraduate Tuition Scholarship Recipients

Eva Dannison
Mark S. Rudy Award

Eva Dannison is a junior majoring in Human Rights and Political Science with a minor in Business at UConn. On campus, she is involved with A Minor A-Cappella and Jewish on Campus. Her academic interests focus on deeply divided societies, genocide studies, and social responsibilities and ethics in business. Eva hopes to study law after graduating from UConn.

Gabriel Duffany
Mark S. Rudy Award

Gabriel Duffany is a rising senior at the University of Connecticut majoring in Human Rights and Communication with a dual degree in Political Science. He has worked at various nonprofits in the Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and Chicago areas focused on the intersection of law, policy, and human rights. He is passionate about working at the grassroots level and using direct action as a means for broad social impact, along with encouraging proactive political action among his peers.

Chevintha Edirisinghe
Open Society Foundations Award

Chevintha Edirisinghe is a rising senior in the honors program at UConn, majoring in Physiology and Neurobiology with a minor in Human Rights. Chevy’s interests lie within the overlap of health and human rights, particularly in scientific research and public trust in science. Chevy is on track to be in the master's program in PNB with the Zarkada Lab, where he plans to deepen his research skills in preparation for medical or graduate school. He hopes to use this scholarship to bring more attention to human rights practice and discourse in these scientific fields.

Magnolia Hart
Mark S. Rudy Award

Magnolia Hart is an Honors senior at UConn majoring in Human Rights and Political Science with a minor in Economics. She is passionate about mass atrocity prevention and is currently working with members of HRI faculty to write a thesis on borders and their impacts on human rights violations. She is also a coordinator at UConn Community Outreach, an active member of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp founded by actor Paul Newman, and a researcher for different faculty projects at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.

Katrina Hatch
Wiktor Osiatyński Award & Laura Chapman Rubbo Award

Katrina Hatch is a junior majoring in Human Rights and Environmental Studies at UConn. She recently completed a semester abroad at the University of Galway in Ireland where she studied Political Science and Environmental Science for a European perspective. In addition, she was awarded the Human Rights Summer Internship Fellowship with the Business and Human Rights Center where she will be working for the summer. Outside of classroom and internships, she works as a fellow with HRI's Democracy and Dialogues Initiative where she researches, develops, and collaborates on dialogues on and off campus. She facilitates dialogues as a table leader as well as moderates and guides rooms through difficult conversations in a neutral environment. She hopes to continue work in ethical supply chain management, hopefully in the fashion industry where she can work to limit human rights violations in clothing industry as well as lessen the impact fast fashion has on the environment.

Jimena Romero
Open Society Foundations Award

Jimena Romero is a rising junior in Chemical Engineering at UConn, with a concentration in Sustainability and a minor in Human Rights. Her academic interests focus on integrating human rights principles into engineering to better serve vulnerable communities and promote ethical, sustainable solutions. She aspires to attend law school in the future and use both engineering and law to advocate for justice and human dignity.

Kenzie Styles
Mark S. Rudy Award

Kenzie Styles is a sophomore majoring in Sociology and Human Rights at UConn. Her academic interests include social research and international human rights advocacy with a pre-law focus. She is currently co-president of the Special Program in Law Council and works part time at Whitney Dining Hall where she collaborates with people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Serenity Taylor
Alan B. Slifka Award

Serenity Taylor is a sophomore majoring in Human Rights and Sociology, with a minor in Africana studies at UConn. Her academic interests focus on intersectional feminism, genocide studies, and Black diasporic experiences.