On Thursday, April 27, 2023, ISHR hosted a celebratory event for its graduating students. Faculty, staff, returning and graduating students attended the event and enjoyed an evening celebrating the accomplishments of the graduating class. ISHR’s Executive Director, Joseph Slaughter, gave the opening remarks at the event followed by Gergana Halpern, Director of Education Programs.
Julia Mannes, Undergraduate Education Coordinator, introduced the Undergraduate Human Rights Program Class Representative, Hunter Rhoades. In his speech, Hunter said: “[...] what we did discover to be true is that this department was ready to welcome us into a rich and remarkable network of scholars, activists, professors, and peers who stood ready to inaugurate us into a discipline that addresses head-on the most pressing issues of our day and who have urged us forward to work that is constantly evolving in its quest to protect and empower rights-bearers across the world.”
Following, Anna Miller, Graduate Program Manager, introduced the Human Rights MA Class Representative, Anna Savva. Savva said: “I am moved to see you all use empathy as a real tool. To lead with compassion, to permit yourselves to remember the human aspect behind human rights. We can use data, we can use hard science and numbers, but we can also use stories, experiences, feelings, emotions, and all the things we define as unequivocally human.”
Finally, Andrew Nathan, Chair of ISHR's Steering Committee and Director of Undergraduate Studies, concluded with congratulatory words on behalf of the Department of Undergraduate Studies.
