Tag Archives: 2021 Senior Awards

Harmeet Kaur

Harmeet Kaur '21 (Baruch)

Harmeet Kaur ’21 is a Biological Sciences major who double minored in Physics and Interdisciplinary Minor with Honors in NYC Studies at Baruch College, under Macaulay Honors. She was involved in two undergraduate research labs, one of which awarded her the 2018 MACUB award.

Pre-pandemic, Harmeet volunteered at New York-Presbyterian Queens and her local primary care clinic, where she helped out medical staff and interacted with patients with the goal of making them less anxious and more comfortable. During 2019-2020, Harmeet served as Vice President of her college’s BioMed Society, where she networked with hospitals and researchers to provide opportunities for fellow members and peers. In early 2020, she spent her time after class reading books to elementary school children. In late 2020, she helped deliver food packages to elderly residents unable to travel due to the pandemic.

Her future plans involve going to medical school to pursue her dreams as a doctor and getting a puppy.

Sadele Willoughby

Sadele Willoughby '21 (Lehman)

Sadele Willoughby ’21 is a Social Work major and a part of the first MHC Bridge Scholars cohort. Currently, she works in Safe Horizon’s Rose House where she assists children and families who are survivors of domestic violence. Throughout her academic career she has interned at the Sports Foundation Inc. and A Philip. Randolph HS as a social work intern. During her time at A. Philip Randolph, she facilitated an all-girls group teaching self-love and self-care techniques. She has also led informative groups about Macaulay Honors College for high school seniors and juniors.

After graduating, Sadele plans on completing a summer internship with Lawyers for Children. She will be working alongside a team of professional lawyers and social workers on high priority court cases involving minors whose parents are undocumented, foster care involved, and criminal justice involved.

Riyadh Ally

Riyadh Ally '21 (Queens)

Riyadh “Ray” Ally ’21 is a Psychology major with minors in Health Science, Cities and Social Medicine, and Student Services and Counseling. He is currently an EMT in the NYC 911 system and worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, Riyadh authored a poem that won first place in the Macaulay SCRIBE pandemic writing contest.

From 2017-2020, Riyadh volunteered with the American Red Cross. He assisted in relief supply distribution and casework after Hurricane Maria, securing housing for refugees in NYC. Later, Riyadh became a team leader in the Home Fire Campaign. He supervised free smoke/CO detector installations and taught fire safety to families.

In 2018, Riyadh volunteered in the Emergency Department at NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens. Later, he volunteered as a firefighter and EMT in NYC and Long Island. Riyadh also completed the QC Peer Counseling program in Spring 2020, but he voluntarily stayed and supported students during the pandemic. By 2021, he began vaccinating people as a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer. After graduation, Riyadh plans to pursue nursing.

Otabek Zainiev

Otabek Zainiev '21 (Baruch)

Otabek Zainiev ’21, whom joined the Baruch Macaulay program in Fall 2016, suddenly passed away at the age of 22 on March 28, 2021. He was pursuing an Operations Management major and double minors in NYC Studies and Economics & Finance. He was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and lived with his family in Staten Island. Otabek was a family man and had a sense of humor which brought joy to those around him. One of his passions was education and therefore he worked tirelessly to thrive academically, despite facing personal challenges. Otabek aspired to be a successful businessman and was actively applying to internships.

Otabek enjoyed giving back and often volunteered at NYU Langone Hospital and as a tutor for adolescents. He also served as a teacher’s assistant and provided support for children during a prior trip to his homeland. Otabek loved to absorb information and eagerly spoke about his trips to Aruba and Israel. He was also fluent in Russian and active in cocurricular activities, such as the Macaulay Business Club. He will always be known for his compassion, resilience and drive.

Natalie Csak

Natalie Csak '21 (Baruch)

Natalie Csak ’21 is a finance major and a double minor in NYC Studies and psychology. She has participated in the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) and has served and participated on the Macaulay Scholars Council and the Macaulay Business Club. She helped to coordinate the Faculty Outstanding Teaching award with the Baruch Honors Program. She has a full-time job offer from BMO (Bank of Montreal) in Healthcare Investment Banking.

Victoria Capalbo

Victoria Capalbo '21 (City)

Victoria Capalbo ’21 is an Industrial-Organizational Psychology major and Communications minor graduating from Baruch College. Currently, she is preparing for graduate school in the Fall, during which time she will be attending New York University to obtain her Master’s in IO Psychology.

Victoria has had the opportunity to participate in two major research studies during her tenure as an undergraduate student, an experience she accredits as being centrally formative to her career journey. In 2019, she was selected for the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate program and joined Dr. Charles Scherbaum’s Selection and Assessment lab to study asynchronous interviews. During the same year, she spearheaded research on barriers to receiving mental health care treatment under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Sibrava, which she presented at the International Conference of Undergraduate Research. Later, she interned as a People & Culture Team Lead at a tech startup where she applied IO theory in practice.

After graduating from NYU, she hopes to go into People Analytics or consulting.

Pabvitraa Ramcharan

Pabvitraa Ramcharan '21 (Baruch)

Pabvitraa Ramcharan ’21 is a Political Science and Economics double major with minors in Statistics and Quantitative Modeling and NYC Studies. She is currently a research assistant at Baruch College’s Department of Political Science. At the CUNY FDIC Conference, she presented her team’s findings regarding how the department collectively addresses DEI issues in their courses. Pabvitraa is the inaugural recipient of The Soléi Spears “Excellence in Action” Award for the Advancement of Social and Racial Justice. She recently completed her senior Honors thesis, “Neo-Extracting Gilded Welfare States: A Comparative Study of Extractivism and Latin American Welfare State Formation.”

Pabvitraa interned for Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo at the NYC Council in Summer 2019. In Summer 2018, she began writing for The Ticker at Baruch. Through volunteer work, she encouraged artistic involvement at Materials for the Arts and assisted new immigrants at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center. During her gap year, Pabvitraa plans to work with AmeriCorps before applying to graduate school.

Olivia A. Asher

Olivia A. Asher '21 (Lehman)

Olivia A. Asher ’21 is a Biology major at Lehman College. While pursuing her Bachelor’s degree, she conducted original research on fungi and lichens at the New York Botanical Garden, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria, Australia, and the University of Georgia. Her research has resulted in five academic papers, three published, one in review, and one in prep. Olivia received multiple awards to support her research, including the Torrey Botanical Society’s Undergraduate Student Research Fellowship, the Mycological Society of America’s Undergraduate Research Award, and Con Edison Incorporated’s Con Edison Endowed Scholarship. Olivia is also part of the Research Initiative in Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program at Lehman College.

After graduating in the Spring of 2021, Olivia will be pursuing a PhD in bioinformatics through the Integrated Plant Sciences Program at the University of Georgia. She received the Presidential Fellowship from the University of Georgia and the United States Department of Energy’s Computational Science Graduate Fellowship to support her graduate work.

Lila Tabor

Lila Tabor '21 (Hunter)

Lila Tabor ’21 is graduating from Hunter College with a double major in History and Comparative Literature. As a student at Macaulay, she has been an active member of the Macaulay Marauders Quidditch Team, Macaulay FIT, Macaulay Peer Mentors, as well as Hunter Hillel and the Hunter College Senate. During Spring 2019, Lila participated in the Eva Kastan Grove Fellowship, where she worked alongside the nonprofit “Sanctuary for Families” to educate CUNY students about human trafficking, domestic violence, and prostitution in America. In December 2019, she was named a Horace W. Goldsmith Scholar.

Over the past year, Lila has been conducting original historical research about the AIDS epidemic in New York with the Mellon Public Humanities Scholars Program. Currently, she is an intern at the nonprofit “DreamYard Project,” teaching elementary, middle, and high school students about social justice and activism. After graduating from Macaulay, Lila will go on to pursue a J.D. from Cornell Law School where she has received a full-tuition scholarship as a Charles Evans Hughes Scholar.

Hamida Chumpa

Hamida Chumpa '21 (Baruch)

Hamida Chumpa ’21 is a Biology and Sociology adhoc major with a minor in Natural Sciences. She is also a fellow of the Jeannette K. Watson fellowship. Currently, she is a Program and Research Assistant at a nonprofit organization in the Bronx known as LaalNYC where she conducts data analysis to inform programs to empower vulnerable South Asian immigrant communities.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamida has been assessing the needs of the Bronx community and organizing food pantries as well as designing outreach plans to increase engagement between contact tracers and immigrant communities to widen access to healthcare.

In June 2019 Hamida interned at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs where she facilitated a class of adult immigrants on conversational English and promoted awareness of their civil rights. Throughout college, she was a manager at Khan’s Tutorial where she mentored over 50 students to gain admission to college.

Hamida plans for a future in public health where she can fight for accessible and equitable healthcare for marginalized people of color.