Empowering Students To Impact the World

In Recognition of the Class of 2020

Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars

Congratulations to the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars Class of 2020

The Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars (MFCNS) is a select group of students who are chosen from all parts of the country and demonstrate an outstanding degree of leadership. Along with their leadership abilities, these students exhibit academic excel-lence and a commitment to serving the communities in which they live.

MFCNS offers membership to 200 scholars, an honor reserved for less than two percent of the Cornell undergraduate population. Programming and support that facilitates the practice and appli-cation of leadership skills enriches students’ overall experience, impacts communities, and lays the foundation for Meinig Scholars to excel well beyond their college years.

The Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars is named in honor of Peter Meinig ’61 and Nancy Schlegel Meinig ’62 for their dedica-tion to and generous support of student leaders. Please click on this image to hear a special message from the Meinig Family.

“Never doubt the capacity of the people you lead to accomplish whatever you dream for them.” ~Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

Agriculture & Life Sciences

Thomas BeirneAndres Brea

Sabrina DaleyAnthony Ghaly

Iris GouCassandra HareAmanda KosichAdaeze OkorieSarah Stefanik*Emma Wood

Lilia Zertuche

Architecture, Art &Planning

Maurice BradfordJael FergusonIsaiah Murray

Arts & Sciences

Samanta ArenasCache Bisasor

Mia BravoJohn CorreaSharon Dang

Cristian GonzalezMedina KeitaGavin Martin

Victoria MonteroShivani SanghaniNicholas SmithHannah Subega

*Ashwin ViswanathanIan WallaceKenny Zhou

Engineering

Zachary BrothersIsabel Coto

Naedum DomNwachukwuJared Gallina

Richard GreenbaumMichael Miller

Jake MiolaAlisha MithalAlan Pascual

Maci PrescottMichelle QuienHo-Jung Yang

Hotel Administration

*Elvis AhnMiguel Brotons

Lydia CaroeSamuel Frey

Christian HallAnn Zhang

Human Ecology

*Sarita BeneschJordan FasonElizabeth KaneAjay Kunapuli

Industrial & Labor relations Kaya Coleman

Manuel HanuchSarah KarkouraEmily Klimberg

Michael MudrakOlivia Natale

Levi Orenstein-WolfElexa Perlman

The Senior Class of Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars

*Members of the Meinig Scholars Student Executive Board

Excellence In Leadership Award

The Excellence in Leadership Award is presented to members of the graduating class in special recognition of exemplary leadership among this group of leaders. All graduating students are asked to submit a leadership transcript, along with a reflection on their leadership lessons over the last four years, which is then reviewed for selection of our honoree(s). Each awardee will receive a certificate of recognition, along with a cash prize of $500.

The Excellence in Leadership award is presented to honor students’ actions resulting in the enrichment of self, an organization, the campus and/or the world. Twelve finalists were selected from the entire graduating class and, for the first time, four scholars were selected to receive this award; each with accomplishment unique to either their personal growth, their change within an organization, or their global impact. Below we honor all our finalists and present special recognition for our four exemplary leaders!

Thomas Beirne*Sarita BeneschCache Bisasor

Zachary Brothers*Naedum DomNwachukwu

Cristian GonzalezCassandra Hare*Sarah Karkoura

Medina KeitaAlisha Mithal

Nicholas Smith*Ashwin Viswanathan

*Recipients of the Meinig Scholars Excellence In Leadership Award

Naedum I. DomNwachukwu

Sarita E. Benesch

Leadership highlights:

Facilitator, Intergroup Dialogue ProjectResearch Chair, Human Ecology Dean’s Undergraduate Advisory BoardCommunications Coordinator, Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars Executive BoardCornell Visitor RelationsMerrill Presidential ScholarshipKappa Alpha PiKappa Omicron Nu Honor Society

Leadership reflections:

Sarita, in her essay, explains that strong leadership first requires self-reflection. She chronicles her growth at Cornell, detailing her journey of building confidence throughout her freshman and sophomore years. She explains that leadership must be interdisciplinary, and as a Meinig Scholar, she was able to develop her own voice, taking on diverse leadership positions with the Intergroup Dialogue Project and the Human Ecology Dean’s Undergraduate Advisory Board.

Sarita will attend Yale Law School.

Leadership highlights:

Chief Operating Officer, Scholars in Our Society and AfricaStudent Leader, Cornell CRUStudent Supervisor for Lab Operators, CIT Computer Labs

Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award Winner NACME Scholar Leadership reflections:

Naedum describes that as a Meinig Scholar, he became empowered to see that there was room for him at Cornell to find his own leadership style and direction. Throughout his time at Cornell, Naedum began to see leadership as a way of utilizing everyone’s strengths to achieve a goal instead of leadership being one person distinguishing themselves from others. Naedum concludes that to be a leader, one needs a team, and that leadership is not about who and what, but asking the questions why and how. He applied this leadership philosophy to his work with Scholars in Our Society and Africa.

Naedum will attend Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine MD-PhD program.

Ashwin Viswanathan

Sarah A. Karkoura

Leadership highlights:

Co-President, Forte Campus at Cornell Executive Vice President, Cornell Panhellinic CouncilCo-Founder and Managing Director, Our Story Cornell

Order of Omega Honor Society Quill and Dagger Honor Society Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award Winner

Leadership reflections:

Sarah wrote her essay on an important tenet of leadership: learning how to step back from leadership positions when they do not align with your ethics. Sarah highlights this lesson by detailing her decision to leave the Panhellinic community at Cornell because she felt it no longer represented her values, despite the change she tried to foster from within. She went on to found Our Story Cornell, an independent social-impact driven media group. She wanted to create a platform where speaking and listening were both encouraged.

Sarah will begin her post-Cornell career as an Associate Strategist at Sullivan.

Leadership highlights:

Chair, Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars Executive Board Vice President of Health and Safety and Vice President of Member Development, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity Orientation Leader/Supervisor, New Student Programs

Founder/President, Biology Research Interest Group Supervisor, Cornell Visitor Relations Student Assembly and University Assembly Cayuga’s Watchers

Leadership reflections:

Ashwin’s essay details his personal observations that leadership is not monolithic; that leadership in science requires critical thinking, problem solving, troubleshooting, and project management talents in addition to people management skills typically used in other arenas. Throughout his time at Cornell, Ashwin has learned that the fields of science and medicine must rely on large groups of individuals to collaborate to reach a goal successfully. Importantly, Ashwin also explains that understanding and bringing one’s identity to the table, which includes race and upbringing and interests, matters deeply in leading teams successfully.

Post-graduation, Ashwin will be applying to MD/PhD programs in neuroscience while conducting research in the Axel Neuroscience Lab at Columbia University.

Message from Kristine M. DeLuca, Director, Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars

Thank you for allowing me the privilege of witnessing your growth and accomplishment in the name of leadership in service to our community. These are words I would share with you in person, were we able to celebrate together with family, friends, and colleagues at the beautiful A.D. White House this weekend; where we first welcomed you that beautiful August Saturday in 2016. These are certainly interesting times and I’m sad I can’t relay a personal message to each and every one of you. But we can and do still celebrate your great achievement -the completion of your Cornell degree!–regardless of time and space.

Each and every one of you should be proud of the fact that you have made a difference – to another person; to a student or community group; to an idea; to an ideal. You have been leaders in organizations such as Intergroup Dialogue Project, Cornell Varsity Football, Cornell Minds Matters, Alternative Breaks, Queer Professional Community, Cornell Sustainable Design, Class Councils, Varsity Track and Cross Country, the Cornell Daily Sun, Scholars Working Ambitiously to Graduate, Student Assembly, Marching Band, Cornell Chorus, Women of Color Coalition, numerous fraternities and sororities, various College Ambassadors, Orientation, Residential Life, and New Student programs, and a multitude of organizations dedicated to exploring one’s faith, ethnicity, or culture.

You have achieved distinction in honorary organizations such as Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Epsilon, Sphinx Head, the 400 Club, Quill and Dagger, Chi Epsilon, Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, Kappa Omicron Nu, Order of Omega, Ho Nun De Kah, Beta Alphi Psi, and Red Key Athletic Honor Society. Your ranks include two recipients of the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award and Merrill Presidential Scholars. Many of you have written honors theses, book chapters, presented at conferences and are published in professional journals. You are moving onto such places as JP Morgan, Yale Law School, Google, Emory University School of Law and Public Health, Cornell University - both in Ithaca and in NYC at CornellTech -Wells Fargo, Accenture Consulting, Axel Neuroscience Lab at Columbia University, Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, Northeastern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Sullivan, Inc., Venture for America, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Good Luck. We look forward to celebrating with you in the future.

Click on the image below to listen to the Alma Mater:

Wherever it is that this next step in your journey takes you, remember all that you have accomplished. Remember that sometimes you didn’t feel like you could do it – and yet look at all that you have done. While this might be a time of great uncertainty, remember that you’ve figured it out before; you’ve walked through it and toward something different, new, and exciting. Opportunity calls and I know you are up for the adventure!

You know what you’re capable of. You know what’s important to you. You can look around our world and see the things that need to be addressed; dealt with; fixed; made better. I know of the support you’ve received from family and the friendships and associations I’ve watched you forge over these past years; creating a network that is poised to stand behind you in whatever you choose to do with your life. So, now, let me say goodbye with these two very simple things: LISTEN TO YOUR HEART and DO WHAT YOU CAN. You know what your passions are. You own an incredible toolbox of skills between your academics and your outside of the classroom experiences. Now, figure out how you wish to apply them out there in the world. And along the way, may you make someone’s life a little bit better as a result.