The George J. Mitchell Scholarships are administered by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. Winners of these prestigious scholarships are selected to pursue a year of postgraduate study at universities on the island of Ireland. Created in 1998, the scholarship program was named in honor of U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s role as chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks.
The program has been slated for elimination from the budget of the Department of State, the major funder of the program. Efforts to restore funding in Congress have been unsuccessful. Serena Wilson, director of the Mitchell Scholarship Program stated that unless funding is restored or new supporters are found, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance is unlikely to name a new class of Mitchell Scholars next year.
This year’s sixteenth class of 12 Mitchell Scholars was chosen from 270 applicants. Twenty finalists were invited to Washington for a reception at the Irish embassy and to continue the interview process. Five of the 12 new Mitchell Scholars who made the final cut are women.
Rachel Green from Germantown, Tennessee, is a senior at Indiana University in Bloomington. She is majoring in economics and sociology. She is co-chair of Culture of Care, an education and awareness program that has trained more than 2,000 students in bystander prevention to reduce sexual assaults. Green will study moral, legal, and political philosophy at Queen’s University in Belfast. She plans to enter law school after her time in Ireland.
Fatima Mirza is a senior at Harvard University, where she is majoring in chemical and physical biology and with secondary programs in Spanish and global health. On campus, she is the science editor for the student newspaper, was president of the South Asian Association, and was the president and co-founder of an organization addressing health disparities in South Asia. In Ireland, Mirza will study public health at University College Cork.
Julianne Norton, from Trumbull, Connecticut, is a senior at the University of Connecticut. She is majoring in international relations with a minor in studio art. She has received grant funding to create a graphic novel. On campus, she is the co-founder and president of an organization that helps public schools with underfunded arts programs. In Ireland, she will study creative writing at the National University of Ireland in Galway. After her time in Ireland, Norton plans to attend law school.
Keelie Sheridan is a graduate of Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, New York. She holds a master of fine arts degree in acting from Brooklyn College. Sheridan lost her home and most of her belongings in Hurricane Sandy and is currently writing a play on her experiences. Sheridan is the founder of Mind the Art Entertainment, which over the past seven years has produced 52 original projects in various art forms. She will study directing at Trinity College Dublin.
Tara Torabi is from Sedona, Arizona. She is a senior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she is studying neuroscience. Her research is focused on Alzheimer’s disease and she is co-president of Alzheimer’s Activists, a campus group that raises awareness on campus and participates in political activism on issues related to Alzheimer’s disease. Torabi hope to be a physician/researcher. She will study neuropharmacology at the National University of Ireland in Galway.