CSB alumna receives Humanity in Action Fellowship

Tiffany Vang, a 2013 graduate of the College of Saint Benedict, was recently selected as one of 40 recipients of the 2014 Humanity in Action Fellowship.

Vang majored in peace studies at CSB, and is from St. Paul, Minn.

This year, a record 605 applications were received for the 40 available spots. Fellows were chosen based on their high academic standing, participation in human rights issues and outstanding recommendations.

"I definitely knew it was something I wanted to do," Vang said. "The mission of HIA deeply resonated with me, so I was grateful and 'ready' when I found out I would be a HIA Fellow."

The 2014 Fellows will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in an orientation workshop May 26-29 at the Council on Foreign Relations and the United States Holocaust Museum. The workshop will discuss American civil rights, Holocaust education and European security and political issues. There will also be sessions devoted to aiding Humanity in Action Fellows to build careers in the field of foreign affairs.

Following the orientation workshop, Vang will travel to Amsterdam. While there, she will attend lectures, visit sites and talk with officials regarding human and minority rights.

The Fellowship will end with a Humanity in Action International Conference June 26-29 in the border region between Germany and Denmark. This conference will focus on the treatment and status of minorities in border regions in Europe and around the world.

"I am most excited to learn about how the current economic downturn has amplified the tensions between minority and immigrant groups in Europe," Vang said. "I feel that this is a great opportunity to put what I learn in Peace Studies into practice."

The Humanity in Action Fellowship brings together international groups of college students and recent graduates to study national histories of discrimination and resistance to injustice, as well as address current-day issues affecting minority groups. The intention of the Fellowship is to create a dialogue about understanding and responding to the challenges faced by democratic countries, as well as instill sense of responsibility among Fellows to be engaged citizens, responsible decision makers and to protect minorities and promote human rights.

Since 1999, Humanity in Action has had over 1,300 Fellows in programs around the world. It is recognized as an international educational organization which educates, inspires and connects a global network of students, young professionals and established leaders in their own communities and around the world.