Marshall Scholar Dina Eldawy (right) with New York State Sen. Rachel May at the Senate Chamber in Albany. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Senate)
Syracuse University senior Dina Eldawy was honored by the New York State Senate Feb. 26 on the occasion of her designation as a 2019 Marshall Scholar.
State Sen. Rachel May (D-53) sponsored the resolution that honored Eldawy. The resolution said, in part, “It is the sense of this legislation body that when individuals of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our attention, they should be recognized by all the citizens of this Empire State. Therefore, be it resolved that this legislative body pause in its deliberations to honor Dina Eldawy upon the occasion of her designation as a recipient of a 2019 Marshall Scholarship, and to extend best wishes for future success and well-being.”
Eldawy, of Pensacola, Florida, is an international relations major in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School and a citizenship and civic engagement (CCE) major in the Maxwell School. The Marshall Scholarship finances outstanding American students to study in the United Kingdom. Marshall Scholars are chosen based on their academic merit, leadership and ambassadorial potential.
Eldawy will use the two-year Marshall award to fund two master’s degrees in the U.K. For her first year, she will enroll in the migration and global development M.A. program at the University of Sussex. In her second year, she plans to complete an M.Sc. in comparative and international education at the University of Oxford. She plans a future working on immigration and education reform policy, and contributing to peace building in the Middle East.
Meeting and recognizing Eldawy was special for May, who herself was a Marshall Scholar and earned a master’s degree at Oxford University.
“I was delighted to be able to recognize Dina Eldawy on the floor of the New York State Senate. She is the first woman and the first Muslim from Syracuse University to receive a Marshall Scholarship,” says May. “The scholars are selected for their academic merit, leadership qualities and ability to be effective ambassadors for the special relationship between the United States and Great Britain. I know Dina will go on to achieve great things and be a tremendous credit to the University, the City of Syracuse, New York state and the country. I wish her all the best as she continues to pursue her dreams.”
Eldawy says that being recognized in Albany was an incredible experience. “I did not expect that the senators would put aside time to recognize people or institutions in their communities. The fact that they do connects the whole process to the local communities they represent,” she says. “Senator May was so wonderful to meet and to talk with, and her staff made us feel like we were at home. I always joke that I’m from Florida but it feels like New York has adopted me.
“It was also a day to truly reflect on all the people I’ve had the privilege of meeting and the communities I’ve gotten to work with in Syracuse,” Eldawy says. “It’s because of them that I have been able to thrive in the community and at the University. It also made me realize how much I will miss living in Central New York, regardless of the weather!”
In addition to her designation as a Marshall Scholar, Eldawy is a Coronat Scholar, a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, a 2018 Truman Scholar and a 2018-19 Remembrance Scholar. She spent the Fall 2018 semester in Washington, D.C., through the Maxwell-in-Washington Program and interned at the Migration Policy Institute.
In Syracuse, Eldawy has interned at the North Side Learning Center, a local refugee education center, teaching English to high school girls from Somalia and Syria. On campus, she has been involved with interfaith work and activism through the Muslim and Arab student associations.
She has also worked in education centers in Santiago, Chile, with Bolivian and Peruvian immigrants there, and in Tyre, Lebanon, with Palestinian refugees.
