The Scholars

2008-2009: Moran Cohen and Ali Malik

Moran Cohen is majoring in business economics. She was born in Haifa, Israel, and moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 12.

Ali Malik is a history major with a minor in religious studies. Through his study of U.S. history, he has learned how previous political and religious conflicts were resolved peacefully.

Cohen and Malik plan to use the scholarship funds to launch a yearlong forum on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing on their experiences as part of the Olive Tree Initiative. Olive Tree Initiative comprises 14 student leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze and unaffiliated backgrounds who traveled in September to Israel and Palestine to see the faces and hear the voices of the people who are affected day-to-day. “It’s a campuswide project designed to increase awareness among UCI students and community members of the highly volatile political situation in the Middle East and the importance of creating peace in the region,” he says.

The goal is to create a forum in which students can express disparate political, social and religious ideologies in a rational and ethical manner.

Working with the Olive Tree Initiative, Cohen and Malik organized the UC Student Leadership Summit for their project.

It is crucial to be educated, and to educate others about this conflict before shaping ones’ views. Learning to respect ‘the other’ is essential to achieving mutual peace, which defines the purpose of the initiative and the Dalai Lama scholarship project.”
– Moran Cohen, 2008-2009 Scholar

Sensitivity to religious differences and maintaining a dialogue that does not compromise the integrity of one’s beliefs together lead to successful negotiations and thus peace.
– Ali Malik, 2008-2009 Scholar

2007-2008: Rebecca Dawn Westerman

Rebecca Dawn Westerman is a University of California, Irvine senior majoring in art history. She is a remarkable young woman with a fervent passion to contribute to global peacemaking efforts. During the summer of 2006 Rebecca traveled to Thailand where she served in an orphanage and was inspired by the compassionate spirit of the monks there. She emphasizes art as a universal communication method to be used for raising social and moral questions.

Rebecca has been a Resident Advisor in Mesa Court as well as a Peer Academic Advisor for the School of Humanities. She was also a founding member of the Art History Undergraduate Association and was a Humanities Out There (HOT) tutor at Santa Ana High School. Throughout all of these activities, Rebecca has still managed to stay on the Dean’s List nearly every quarter she’s been at UCI.

Rebecca’s proposal, The UCI Peace Flag Project, aims to show the extent of conflict in our world and the extent to which peace is desperately needed. In May 2008, Aldrich Park will be circled with “peace flags” created by the UCI community. Modeled after, but distinct from, Tibetan prayer flags, The Peace Flag Project will raise awareness about all of the ongoing armed conflicts in our world and include positive messages for peace. Rebecca hopes The Peace Flag Project will prompt individuals to take local steps toward stopping global violence and work toward a peaceful planet for all of us.

My studies were only truly meaningful if I used my education and privilege to act in the world.
— Rebecca Dawn Westerman, 2007-2008 Scholar

2006-2007 Inaugural Scholars:
Rajiv Ramdeo and Aswathi Sreedharan
As published in Fall 2006

UCI students meet with XIV Dalai Lama and receive scholarships named in his honor

UC Irvine has selected two students to receive the inaugural XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship, recognizing a commitment to ethics and leadership on campus and in the community. The undergraduate winners met with His Holiness on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in Pasadena, Calif. (read more)

Ramdeo (left), the XIV Dalai Lama, Sreedharan (right)

I am happy to learn that young students [at UC Irvine] are studying and practicing the work of ethics, peace and positive global relations through The XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship. I have always believed that the world will be happier and more peaceful if people nurtured these important human values.
– His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama

Aswathi Sreedharan is a University of California, Irvine junior, double-majoring in biomedical engineering and international studies, with a minor in conflict studies. She moved to the United States from India when she was 15 years old and has been an extremely active member of the UCI campus. A Chancellor’s Club Scholar, Aswathi has received the Chancellor’s Excellence award every year, and is a member of several honor societies. She holds a research fellowship through the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

She is known to be an energetic, enthusiastic, thoughtful and compassionate person. For The XIV Dalai Lama Scholarship project, Aswathi plans to organize a statewide camp for universities and colleges student leaders to encourage unity and support peace around the world – an expanded version of a project she helped initiate last year.

This scholarship will allow me to build an annual student gathering for promising future leaders who are grounded in compassionate leadership and humanitarian values. Together we can approach our local work with global responsibility. The camp will unite the physical and intellectual so we can learn how to establish harmony while addressing world suffering.
– Aswathi Sreedharan, Inaugural Scholar 2006-2007

Rajiv Ramdeo is a University of California, Irvine junior, majoring in biological sciences with a minor in African-American studies. Rajiv hopes to become a physician so he can work toward more effective public health policy. He has excelled in his studies and has spent two years carrying out sponsored research on meditation at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine.

Rajiv is tenacious, generous and compassionate. One of his role models is His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. After he heard the Dalai Lama speak at UCI in 2004, Rajiv took the initiative to establish the Association of Undergraduate Meditation at UCI. Through the club, Rajiv is exposing students to a variety of meditation methods and philosophies. A longtime practitioner of meditation, he wants to help others experience meditation as a way of developing inner peace. For The XIV Dalai Lama Scholarship project, Rajiv plans to expand the club, bringing a wide variety of individuals to campus to discuss meditation, humanitarian work and ethical leadership.

I try to follow the Dalai Lama’s example, in that he doesn’t endorse a specific religion, but explains how we can apply spiritual teachings to our lives, achieve a sense of inner peace and encourage peace around the world. In our global society, we need bridges so that we can work together. There is scientific support that meditation is a powerful tool to allow more individual peace and health. Being at peace ignites our ability to act ethically and with compassion.
– Rajiv Ramdeo, Inaugural Scholar 2006-2007