Loyola College Archives

Ms. Abhi Nathan, originally from Marietta, Georgia, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she earned a BA in Political Science and Medicine, Health & Society. In the summer of 2019, Ms. Nathan completed a congressional internship through the International Leadership Foundation where she focused on health and immigration policy. Her senior honors thesis built on these experiences, examining public policy during the COVID-19 pandemic in six cities across the United States to determine how local, state, and federal policy intersected to affect healthcare outcomes for immigrant populations.

On campus, she served as the President of Vanderbilt’s South Asian Cultural Exchange and chaired the annual Diwali Showcase, one of the largest cultural showcases on Vanderbilt’s campus celebrating the diversity and culture of South Asia. She also led voter registration and civic engagement efforts as a campus ambassador for the non-profit organization Asian Pacific Islander American Vote and the captain of Vandy Taal, a competitive South Asian fusion a Capella team. Following her graduation from Vanderbilt University, Ms. Nathan worked as a consulting analyst at Avascent, a boutique management consulting firm serving government-driven industries. She will be matriculating to Harvard Law School after the completion of her Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship.

Ms. Nathan is conducting a research project which investigates the effectiveness of different types of local government bodies in Tamil Nadu. This is being accomplished through a series of case studies of various localities which represent the different types of local governments present in Tamil Nadu along a scale of urbanization (i.e., a gram panchayat, a town panchayat, a municipality, etc.). Through Fulbright-Nehru project, Ms. Nathan hopes to understand how differences in urbanization and location, among other factors, affect the administrative efficiency and civic engagement rates of these different localities. She is conducting this research under the guidance of the Peninsula Foundation (TPF), a Tamil Nadu-based non-profit think tank that works to reinforce India’s strength as an independent, sovereign nation-state through research on key policy issues.

Ren Birnholz (they/them/theirs) is an honors graduate of Northeastern University where they majored in cultural anthropology and theatre and minored in women, gender, and sexuality studies. During Ren’s time at Northeastern, they worked as a research assistant in two creative practice research labs focused on the intersections of performing arts, education, identity, and social justice. Ren’s fascination with this field led them to complete an ethnographic thesis entitled “Creating Community through Interrupted Dialogue on TransTok”, which explored how young content creators use social media to build community. They also explored how creative content is utilized to educate individuals outside of a community.

In addition to their academics, Ren spent their time as a campus leader and student advocate. Most notably, Ren led initiatives that expanded access to mental healthcare and reproductive healthcare for the entire student body. They also worked as a resident assistant for three years, mentoring first-year students as they entered the university landscape.

Ren discovered their passion for teaching at a young age. In secondary school, they worked as a theatre and dance camp counselor and as a religious schoolteacher at their local synagogue. As an undergraduate student, they completed two six-month internships: the first as a full-time elementary music teacher; and the second as the sexual misconduct and bias case manager for Boston Public Schools. Outside of a formal educational setting, Ren designs curriculum and leads workshops for reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ organizations.

After studying at Ashoka University in Sonipat, Haryana, in the summer of 2022, Ren is excited to be returning to India as an English teaching assistant through the Fulbright-Nehru grant. While Ren has explored the American education system in depth, through this program they will further their capability as an educator tied to experiences of cultural exchange.