Congratulations to Students Awarded Honors and Prizes

The Institute for the Study of Human Rights congratulates the following human rights students who received departmental honors and prizes in 2026: 

Phi Beta Kappa Inductees 

• Mara Bulzan, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Arnica Eden, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Jacqueline Hutchins, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Carla Mory, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Tooli Shariah, Human Rights Major, General Studies

Undergraduate Human Rights Departmental Honors 

• Sarayu Bethamcherla, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Mara Bulzan, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Mary EvaJune Fast, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Roli Nyirenda, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Tooli Sharia, Human Rights Major, General Studies

Myra Kraft Prizes for Superior Academic Achievement in the Study of Human Rights

• Christopher Coleman, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Connor Menzies, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

Myra Kraft Prize for Exceptional Practical Experience in Human Rights Advocacy

• Thomas Stewart, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

Human Rights Research Award

Graduate Winners

• Danielle Burns, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

• Maya Garner, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

• Krystel Nozier, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

• Giorgia Patti, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

• Céline Noelle Pfister, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

• Madison Plemens-Schunk, GSAS, M.A. Human Rights Studies

Undergraduate Winners

• Mara Bulzan, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Martina de Pablo Mariné, Human Rights Major, General Studies

• Jayna Kanoholanim, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Rebeca Lopez-Anzures, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

• Sciana Vertusma, Human Rights Major, Columbia College

Human Rights Thesis Competition Winners

Graduate Faculty Choice Winner: 

Maia Borchardt (Human Rights Studies M.A.)

The Human Rights Economy: Mobilizing Rights for Redistributive Politics

Undergraduate Faculty Choice Winner: 

Mara Bulzan (General Studies)

Incitement in Eastern European Far-Right Digital Spaces: Testing the Rabat Plan of Action

Audience Choice Winner: 

Roli Nyirenda (Columbia College)

The Clothed Body: How Legal Frameworks Fail to Protect Wearable Political Expression

Human Rights Essay Contest Winners

Graduate Winners

• Isabel Hou, (School of International and Public Affairs), Data, Deportation, and Due Diligence: Assessing Palantir’s Responsibility in U.S. Immigration Enforcement

• Madison Plemens-Schunk, (Human Rights Studies M.A.), Outside the Cis-tem: Legal [Non]Recognition for Gender-Nonconforming People in International Human Rights Law

Undergraduate Winners

• Hope Shinderman, (Columbia College), Mediterranean Necropolitics: Migrant Death at Sea as European Migration Governance

• Mara-Denisa Beteagu, (General Studies), Assessing UN Mechanisms Addressing Roma Ward Segregation