Phillips Brooks House hosts ‘100 Years of Service’

The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) held its fourth annual Public Service Celebration, titled “100 Years of Service” in honor of the association’s centennial, on May 6. The event included a reception and an awards dinner to honor graduating seniors with Stride Rite Senior Recognition Awards, Stride Rite Post-Grad Fellowships, and Houston-Moreland Awards.

The first two of these awards are granted by the Stride Rite Community Service Program, established in 1983 by the Stride Rite Foundation to provide training and skills development for Harvard students of diverse economic and social backgrounds.

The $1,000 senior recognition prize is awarded to six graduating seniors who have demonstrated “outstanding contributions to public service during their undergraduate years.” This year’s recipients are Mariam Eskander, Ariel Harms, David Jenkins, Chinwe Sonia Kpaduwa, Natalia Mendoza, and Christi Tran.

The postgraduate fellowships award up to $25,000 to graduating Harvard seniors to fund a yearlong public service project. This year’s recipients include Ilana Gelfman, Aaron Tanaka, and a senior yet to be determined. Gelfman will travel to Israel to work with Mavoi Satum, an organization that provides assistance for agunot (women who are refused divorces by their husbands). Tanaka, meanwhile, will work with the Fund the Dream Coalition based in Roxbury/North Dorchester, run by the District and Advisory Council.

This year’s Houston-Moreland Award winners are Nicole Barbee, Sorcha Brophy, Erika Hammond, Thomas Sean McKean, Diane Ngyuen, Stella Safo, Quang Tran, and Daniel Weissman.