Distributed May 5, 2003
For Immediate Release

News Service Contact: Kristen Cole



2003 Starr Fellows

Fourteen Brown students receive fellowships for public service projects

Fourteen Brown undergraduates who have demonstrated a strong commitment to public and community service have been awarded C.V. Starr Fellowships to pursue such projects. They will receive up to $4,000 each to fund their work.


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Fourteen Brown University undergraduates recently received C.V. Starr Fellowships, enabling them to spend the next year working on individual projects to build community capacity and examining their roles as agents of change. Nine of the projects will take place in Rhode Island.

Awarded annually by Brown since 1981, the fellowships are supported by a fund established by the C.V. Starr Foundation of New York City and administered by the Howard R. Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown. The Starr Foundation has endowed C.V. Starr Scholarship Funds at more than 80 colleges and universities and selected secondary schools. Brown’s fellows will receive up to $4,000 each for their projects. 

The Starr Foundation was established in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr, founder of the American International family of insurance and financial services companies now know as American International Group (AIG) Inc. Starr, a pioneer of globalization, set up his first insurance venture in Shanghai in 1919. He died in 1968 at the age of 76, leaving his estate to the Foundation.

The 2003 Starr Fellows and their projects:

Robin Amer of Bethesda, Md., will produce a radio documentary on the adaptive reuse of 19th century mill buildings in Providence. Amer, an art semiotics concentrator in the Class of 2004, will examine these spaces as they relate to economic development, urban revitalization, and gentrification.

Rachael Bedard of Toronto, Canada, a history concentrator in the Class of 2005, and Shana Jalbert of Broomall, Pa., a political science concentrator in the Class of 2004, will examine the current and historical role of student activists working on affordable housing.

Jennifer Brazier of Wheatley Heights, N.Y., a community health concentrator in the Class of 2004, will work with the Rhode Island Free Clinic to examine the barriers preventing low-income Dominican families from accessing health care in the Dominican Republic and Providence.

Ilana Friedman of New York City, an American civilization concentrator in the Class of 2004, is working with Providence teachers and students to create an instructional documentary video and booklet to facilitate the development of community gardens.

Sarah Goldstein of New York City, an American civilization and performance studies concentrator in the Class of 2005, will conduct an oral history of New York City's Transport Workers' Union Local 100, exploring its political history and its current complexities as an internal dissident group comes to power.

April Inniss of Boston, Mass., an urban studies concentrator in the Class of 2005, will collaborate with residents to develop the Mattapan Walking Club, a program encouraging women in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston to engage in regular physical activity and fostering supportive relationships.

Joshua Jackson of Chicago, Ill., an urban studies and architectural studies concentrator in the Class of 2004, and Vanessa Lipschitz of Chevy Chase, Md., an economics and public policy concentrator in the Class of 2004, will create a series of case studies and a resource guide to support a national network of community boating centers.

Nathan Lovejoy of Marblehead, Mass., a member of the Class of 2006, will work with ConnecTV, teaching TV and video production to people with disabilities. Lovejoy seeks to explore how work with video can impact identity formation among people with disabilities.

Laura Millay of Surry, Maine, a development studies concentrator in the Class of 2004, will work to develop a network for the exchange of ideas between sustainable agriculture groups in Thailand and the United States.

Quyen Truong of West Hartford, Conn., a visual arts concentrator in the Class of 2005, will research national models for engaging youth in paid apprenticeships in the arts. Truong will work with RiverzEdge in Woonsocket and New Urban Arts in Providence to adapt these models locally.

Ayshe Woodward of Durham, N.H., a development studies concentrator in the Class of 2004, is creating a video documentary exploring transgender and transsexual sexualities.

#####