PBHA fetes public service, honors seniors with awards

The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) held its seventh annual public service celebration on May 5 in the dining hall of Lowell House. A capacity crowd of 240, including PBHA public service leaders and volunteers, Harvard faculty and staff, and invited guests, attended the dinner program to celebrate the year in service, award postgraduate fellowships, honor graduating seniors, and recognize outstanding volunteers.

The awards given out included the Stride Rite Post-Graduate Fellowships and the Stride Rite Senior Recognition Award (both sponsored by the Stride Rite Community Service Program), the Neil J. Houston and Donald W. Moreland Awards, and the Spirit of PBHA Awards.

The Stride Rite Post-Graduate Fellowships are awarded to exceptional graduating seniors who will dedicate the coming year to projects that build on their past service experience. Recipients were selected based on a history of continuity and long-term investment in a particular service or social justice focus. This year, three fellowships in the range of $25,000 were awarded to Tatiana Chaterji, Kevin Feeney, and Astha Thapa.

After graduation, Chaterji will remain in Boston to work with the Association of Haitian Women; Feeney will return home to Oakland, Calif., where he will work with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights; and Thapa will return to her home of Nepal, where she will establish a counterpart to Teach for America.

The Stride Rite Senior Recognition Award winners are nominated and selected based on the students’ exceptional dedication to service and social change during their undergraduate careers. This year’s recipients are Frank Assaf, Sabrina Forte, Luther Gatewood, Jungmin Lee, Laura Powers, Angelico Razon, and Jill Stockwell.

The Donald W. Moreland and the Neil J. Houston Public Service Scholarship Funds are awarded annually to deserving undergraduates who have worked extensively in PBHA programs. The Moreland Award acknowledges selflessness and generosity through volunteer service, and the Houston Award recognizes moral leadership and extraordinary volunteer commitment.

The 2008 recipients (all of whom are seniors) are Chethan Bachireddy, Marco Basile, Cindy Cen, Connie Chen, Natasia de Silva, Sarah Howard, Jenny Jordan, Sergio Martinez, Aubrie Pagano, and Hezzy Smith.

The Spirit of PBHA Award is a special commendation for outstanding organizational contributions that have made it possible for members of PBHA to better serve the community. This year’s winners include seniors Ajay Kumar and Ashley Pletz.

PBHA also honored Alan Stone, Harvard University’s vice president for Government, Community and Public Affairs, for his career in public service and support of the efforts of students at Harvard. Stone is retiring this summer.