Hobart and William Smith Colleges

AWARDS & OPPORTUNITIES

National Champs

Sandeep Tissaaratchy ’26 and Lamia Nur Rahman ’26 won first place at the Novice Nationals debate tournament held at the University of Rochester, beating teams from Princeton and Stanford Universities among others. The pair of HWS debaters also each ranked among the tournament’s top individual speakers: Rahman placed 9th in the novice division and 4th in English as a Second Language (ESL), while Tissaaratchy ranked 5th in the ESL division. Later in the semester, Rahman and Tissaaratchy won the Colgate Open. Tymofi Trakchov ’26 and Grace Wilson ’26 also found success at the tournament as finalists in the Rookie division.

Fulbright to Germany

English major and German Area Studies minor Ian Albreski ’23 is the recipient of a 2023 U.S. Student Fulbright Award to Germany where he will serve as an English Teaching Assistant. Albreski, who studied abroad at the University of Tubingen, has twice been awarded the Julius C. Blocker German Area Studies Fellowship in support of his research and scholarship on German culture.

The Peace Corps Five

This spring, Hrithik Biswas ’23, Emma Brachfeld ’23, Sam Calderon ’23, Kate Equinozzi ’23 and Johanna Golden ’23 were invited to serve as Peace Corps volunteers for two-year placements in North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central and South America. For the five graduates, the international service program is an opportunity to engage their academic interests in international development and policy as well as their commitment to public service.

“Once again, Hobart and William Smith students demonstrate why our campus is known for a commitment to community service and global engagement,” says President Mark D. Gearan, who served as the 14th director of the Peace Corps from 1995 to 1999. “I have no doubt that Hrithik, Emma, Sam, Kate and Johanna will fulfill their Peace Corps assignments with distinction, making a tremendous impact on the communities they serve and in the process experience invaluable insights about the world and themselves.”

Hobart and William Smith have a longstanding connection to the Peace Corps. Since its founding in 1961, more than 250 HWS alums have traveled abroad to serve as volunteers with the Peace Corps.

Photo: Biswas, Golden, Brachfeld, President Gearan, Equinozzi and Calderon.