Elizabeth Evenson will study at the University of Nottingham on her Marshall Scholarship.

Marshall gives human rights scholar chance to study abroad

Fourth-year student and human rights activist Elizabeth Evenson, who spent last summer working in Bosnia, was recently awarded a Marshall Scholarship for study at the University of Nottingham in England.

While Evenson’s human rights work has taken her abroad, she has also worked within the communities in the University’s own backyard. “Liz is a wonderful student who is most deserving of this honor,” said Katie Nash, Dean of Students in the College. “Her work on the South Side of Chicago has provided food, education and care for community members in need.”

Evenson, who recalls the faces of those she has helped in the urban neighborhoods surrounding the University as well as the images of crumbling buildings in Sarajevo, is committed to making human rights more than an abstract ideal and instead a moral obligation within legal systems throughout the world. “While an extensive framework of rights has been constructed through numerous treaties, ‘human rights’ is often little more than a trendy catch phrase,” said Evenson.

The newly named Marshall Scholar will study law at the internationally recognized human rights law research center in Nottingham, England. She eventually plans to advise world governments on international norms and legal standards for human rights.

Evenson, who is also a Harry S. Truman Scholar, currently is pursuing a double major in political science and public policy. She is president of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, performing community service work ranging from sexual violence education to tutoring programs. Through one of the College’s newly established human rights internships, she spent last summer in Bosnia working for Physicians for Human Rights, an organization that assists in the recovery and identification of war casualties. She also is president of Chicago’s Pro-Life Association and a member of the campus chapter of Amnesty International.

Richard Taub, Chairman of Public Policy Studies in the College and Social Sciences Professor, said, “Besides being an excellent student, Liz brings to her activities an intense commitment to the welfare of others, a concern for making others’ lives better and some measure of personal courage to do that.”

The British Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic scholarships, was founded by Act of Parliament in 1953 and commemorates the humane ideals of the European Recovery Programme (Marshall Plan).

The scholarship is funded by the British government and encourages long-lasting ties between the United States and the United Kingdom. The scholarship provides at tuition and living stipend to 40 Americans for two years of study in any field at any British university.