STUDENT AWARDS
Each year the Center for Peace and Justice Education honors students who have excelled in the academic work of Peace and Justice Studies and who have made concrete contributions to a just and peaceful world.
Crishelle Ildefonso earned the Thomas J. Mentzer Award.
Julie Abdelsayed-Roblero earned the Merton | Day Award and was co-winner of the St. Catherine of Siena Award.
Valeria Vázquez Badillo earned the Merton | Day Award.
Autumn Coard earned the Solidarity Award.
Jalyn Jimenez was co-winner of the St. Catherine of Siena Award.
Bianca Brucker earned the Medallion Award.
St. Catherine of Siena Research Award
The St. Catherine of Siena Undergraduate Peace and Justice Research Award is awarded annually to an undergraduate student for a research project relevant to peace and justice issues. Submitted papers will be evaluated by CPJE affiliated faculty through a process of anonymous review. A cash award will be presented to the awardee.
The top three students, including the winner, present their work on a panel with a faculty respondent to a University-wide audience.
2026 Co-Winners: Julie Abdelsayed-Roblero, "Remembering the Votes: Silenced Voices of Women of Color in Suffrage Commemorations" AND Jalyn Jimenez, "Echoes of Occupation: Tracing the Legacy of Haitian Rule in Dominican Collective Memory and Discourse"
2025: Maddix Landahl, "Quinoa: The Golden Grain”
2024: Katie Jordan, “Land and Integrated Settlements: Evaluating Uganda’s Self-Reliance Model of Refugee Settlement”
2023: Natalie Schirmacher, "The Impact of the Argentinian State in the Construction of the Mapuche Terrorist Identity: A Case Study of the Repression of the Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu"
2022: Daniel Estrada, “An Evolution of Exploitation: The Social Death of Migrant Laborers"
2021: Chloe Benson, "Subverting the Fetishization of Eurocentric Beauty Standards through African American Rhetoric"
2020: Nora Cowley, "Philadelphia’s Irish Memorial: Remembering the “Good Immigrant” after An Gorta Mór"
2019: Patrick Flynn, "Pittsburgh Public Schools Sanctuary Policy: Assessing Ambiguity"
2017: Katie Boyce, "American’s 'Youth' Go to Nazi Germany: The Movement to Boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the Racial Divide in American Society"
2016: Claire Kimilu, "In the Shelter of Each Other We Will Live: Refugees in Kenya and the United States"
2014: John Catalano, "Empowerment through SNAP: From Hunger to Husbandry"
2013: Kevin Gallagher, "Ethnicity and the State: Philosophies of Memory Preservation in Rwanda"
- Students are invited to submit work completed in the preceding fall or spring semester.
- Submissions should be no less than six and no more than 20 pages.
- The submission deadline is in the beginning of the spring semester
- Papers will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Excellent writing, clear structure, and adherence to an academic citation style
- Significant use of research with sources well integrated and thoughtfully utilized
- Topic related to concerns of peace and/or justice
- Demonstration of critical thinking, insight, and creativity
- Appreciation of complexity
- Ability to effectively defend claims
- Exceptional papers will include constructive ideas in addition to identifying problems and challenges
By submitting your paper, you are agreeing to participate in the panel discussion should your paper be chosen as one of the top three. You will be notified if your paper is selected for inclusion in the panel.
Thomas J. Mentzer Award
The Thomas J. Mentzer Award honors a graduating Villanova senior who has contributed significantly, through service, to "expanding opportunities for the poor and marginalized."
The award remembers Thomas J. Mentzer, a Villanova graduate of 1955, who later became a faculty member in the History Department. He was active in many of the social issues of the time, including work to oppose racial conflict and segregation. He died in an automobile accident in 1968.
2026 Recipient: Crishelle Ildefonso
Words from Dr. Billie Murray at the 2026 graduation:
Crishelle Ildefonso is graduating with a bachelor of science from the Louise Fitzpatrick School of Nursing with a minor in Global Health. According to her nominator, Josh Kammerer, from the Center for the Common Good, Crishelle has consistently gone out of her way to serve some of the most marginalized populations in our area and to create opportunities and spaces for others to also do so. She has done this through direct service and her servant leadership that models solidarity with the poor and marginalized.
More specifically, Crishelle has served in multiple leadership and community service roles through Community Outreach of Villanova (COV), one of the largest and oldest, weekly-service programs that Villanova offers. During that time, the program has grown significantly both in terms of number of students participating and number of community partners served, a result Rev. Kammerer credits to Crishelle’s leadership and hard work. Her most extensive service has been with the Holy Family Nursing Home in West Philadelphia. Run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, this nursing home’s mission is to provide long-term residency for the poor and marginalized elderly who are otherwise unable to afford a nursing home on their own. These residents are often doubly or triply marginalized. Crishelle and the volunteer student groups she leads as the COV Core Coordinator have spent hours per week with these amazing folks. She has also coordinated teams of students to serve at a local shelter for unhoused people in Upper Darby, preparing, delivering, and serving meals to that population.
Crishelle’s very practical and impactful service was praised by Rev. Kammerer who says, Crishelle “leads others to accept new challenges, having an empathetic yet intrepid spirit. She has served the marginalized and poor directly at multiple sites, while also serving many other sites by improving operations and expanding COV's reach both on and off-campus.”
After graduation, Crishelle has chosen to pursue a nursing fellowship with the Veterans Administration as she continues to use her education and skills to serve men and women who have experienced trauma and neglect by an unjust military system. We hope this award demonstrates CPJE’s own commitment to investing in such an amazing young woman. And we cannot wait to see all the amazing things you will continue to do!
I could go on listing examples of Crishelle’s commitments to service and her communities, but instead I will close with her own words: “As graduation approaches, I find myself reflecting on my time at the nursing home. Whether I visit with my COV group or stop by on my own time, I gain something new from every conversation. Over the years, … many of these residents have become my extended family, which makes leaving them in May incredibly difficult. Still, as Winnie the Pooh once said, ‘How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.’"
I couldn’t agree more, we are all so lucky to be a small part of these amazing students’ lives and it will make saying goodbye so hard. Please join me in thanking Crishelle Ildefonso for all of her hard work and dedication to serving our communities and congratulate her as the winner of the 2026 Thomas J. Mentzer Award.
2025: Kenza Idrissi Janati
2024: Trinity Rogers
2023: Michael DiMaio
2022: Natalie Nwanekwu
2021: Madalyn Sullivan
2020: Michelle Kimura
2019: Ritesh Karsalia
2018: Zachary Ellenhorn
2017: Brendan Carchidi
2016: Rodrigo Rivera
2015: Patrick K. Williams
2014: Ariana Meltzer-Bruhn
2013: Jay Tighe
2012: Kristen Valosky
2011: Jeffrey Sved
2010: Emily Felesenthal
2009: Sarah Arscott
2008: Katrine Herrick
2007: Christine Feldmeier
2006: Jaime C. Gentile
2005: Bryan C. Rivera
2004: Matthew D. Nespoli
2003: Nancy Steedle
2002: Teresa Mambu
2001: Michael S. McGlinnis
2000: Paola Gaines
Dorothy Day | Thomas Merton Award
The Dorothy Day | Thomas Merton Award is named after Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton who were two outstanding American contributors on the journey toward peace and justice. Their lives of study, writing, prayer and action have encouraged others to become involved in furthering the cause of justice and peace in the world.
This award is given to a graduating senior with a major, concentration or minor in Peace and Justice Education who has maintained academic excellence and made a significant contribution to the effort to further justice and peace during their four years at Villanova University.
2026 Recipients: Julie Abdelsayed-Roblero and Valeria Vázquez Badillo
Words from Dr. Allison Covey at the 2026 graduation:
Juliana Abdelsayed-Roblero
Julie is a double major in Political Science and Peace and Justice with minors in Criminology and Spanish. She is particularly interested in issues of justice, inequality, and human rights. As has been noted earlier, her paper titled “Remembering the Votes: Silenced Voices of Women of Color in Suffrage Commemorations,” was a co-winner of this year’s St. Catherine of Siena Undergraduate Peace and Justice Research Award. This award is competitively selected from research papers submitted from across the University and is given to a student whose work demonstrates critical engagement with a topic relevant to peace and justice studies. A few weeks ago, the Center hosted its annual panel discussion with the award winners. There, Julie presented her wonderful paper and engaged in Q&A with an audience that included students, faculty, and staff. Julie’s senior thesis explored related issues of gender-based violence, the structural conditions that perpetuate it, and its representation in film. The thesis focuses on Mexico and it is entitled “Framing Feminicide: Documentary Film and State Responsibility in Ciudad Juárez.”
Beyond her academic work, Julie’s work to promote justice has served our campus, but not only our campus. Along with Valeria Vázquez Badillo, Julie worked as a community interpreter at the Law School clinics for the past 3 years, where she strived to transform language from being a barrier to a bridge to justice. She also served as Resident Assistant and Student Ambassador for the Office of Belonging and Inclusion, where she created programs and facilitated conversations about identity, equity, and belonging. In addition, she served on the executive board of the Latin American Student Organization. In all these roles, Julie tells us, she advocated for underrepresented communities and worked to make our campus mor inclusive and just.
Beyond the Villanova campus, as an intern with Climate Action PA, Julie participated in grassroots organizing and coalition building to advance environmental justice. As a volunteer with the Center for Culture, Art, Work, and Education, she tutored ESL students. All this work, in the classroom, on the wider campus, and in the community, has taught her, as she says, that “pursuing justice is not always about large, visible change, but often about small, consistent acts such as showing up for others, building community, and working toward equity in everyday spaces.” This is a lesson we hope all our students learn. We are grateful for all your work, with youth, college students, and community members, Julie, and we look forward to seeing the legal career you embark upon after graduation.
Please join me in recognizing Ms. Juliana Abdelsayed-Roblero for her commitment to peace and justice and congratulate her as a recipient of the 2026 Merton-Day Award.
Words from Dr. Ray Ward at the 2026 graduation:
Valeria Vázquez Badillo
Valeria is a graduating senior majoring in Peace and Justice with a second major in Psychology and minors in Philosophy and Gender and Women Studies. Her academic work and her service work have been wide-ranging but have all been connected by a strong commitment to learning about and serving vulnerable populations. Valeria’s senior thesis explores reproductive justice and governance in Puerto Rico. She shows how the criminalization of pregnancy, family separation, forced sterilization, and medical experimentation on women operate as interlinked strategies of colonial control over reproduction and life itself. But she also argues that women’s bodies can—and have—become sites of resistance to colonialism, racism, and sexism, and she shows how women resist their oppression through embodied practice.
Beyond her important academic work, Valeria worked at the Villanova Law School for the past few years as a community interpreter, and as a community interpreter mentor, across several legal clinics, addressing issues related to immigration, health care, and tax law. Through this work, Valeria aimed to ensure that language would not be a barrier to justice. As one of her colleagues at the clinics told us, as a Peace and Justice and Psychology major, Valeria brought to her work both a critical understanding of systemic inequality and a strong sense of empathy. She supported clients with limited English proficiency by facilitating clear and accurate communication between attorneys and clients and mentored other student interpreters to approach this work with professionalism, cultural sensitivity, and care.
Valeria was also a member of the pre-law society and the Service Learning Community, she served as a coordinator of the Villanova Special Olympics committee, and she was a Peace and Justice student ambassador and peer mentor.
And she has done incredible work beyond the Villanova campus as well. In Philadelphia, she volunteered at detention centers, where she supported people navigating immigration proceedings under highly stressful and isolating—often dehumanizing—conditions; in Puerto Rico, she researched and drafted policy memoranda and reports for proposed legislation related to human rights as a Government Committee Intern in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.
Next year, Valeria will attend law school at the University of Puerto Rico. We are all so proud of her, and we look forward to seeing all the good she is going to continue bringing to the world in the next phase of her life and career.
Please join me in recognizing Ms. Valeria Vázquez Badillo for her commitment to peace and justice and congratulate her as one of the winners of the 2026 Merton-Day Award.
2025: Elaineh Paulino Fernandez and Isabella Balian
2024: Lauryn Hayes and Gina Ngo
2023: Gaby Lee and Kaitlyn Lynch
2022: Emily Galvin and Victoria Sanders
2021: Chloe Benson and Juliana Cosenza
2020: Rachael Huegerich and Colleen Sharp
2019: Julie Greenwald and Sarah Harris
2018: Danielle Bradley and Julia O'Connor
2017: Kara English
2016: Alissa Welker and Adam Vincent
2015: Kayla Cooke
2014: Noelle Mapes
2013: Caitlin Billingham and Emily Several
2012: Ellen Salmi
2011: Jen Maez
2010: Amy Richards
2009: Gail Sondermeyer
2008: Amy Knop-Narbutis
2007: Emma Stewart
2006: Diane L. Coffey
2005: Kathleen E. Krackenberger
2004: Caitlin Fouratt and Melissa Wibbens
2003: Nancy R. Steedle
2002: Teresa C. Mambu
2001: Megan A. Kasimatis and Craig E. Hickein
2000: David O. Suetholz
1999: Andrea Maresca
1998: Vincent J. Coccia
1996: Michael E. Kennedy
1995: Raj Chablani
1994: Tara Coughlin
1993: Nantiya Ruan
1992: Stephen M. Smith
1991: Steven G. Liga
1989: Gregory Tucci
1988: Ingrid M. Birnbach
1987: Michael P. McGinnis
Joseph Betz Solidarity Award
The Solidarity Award is presented to a graduating senior or seniors concentrating in Peace and Justice Studies in exceptional circumstances to recognize distinctive service to the cause of justice and peace.
After forty-five years of teaching at Villanova University, beloved philosophy professor Joseph Betz, PhD, retired in May 2011. He passed away in 2024. Dr. Betz’s knowledge of social and political issues, and his commitment to active involvement in anti-war and social justice movements in the US and around the world inspired generations of Villanova students and countless colleagues. Among his many contributions to Villanova, Dr. Betz served as the faculty adviser for Amnesty International for thirty years. He was the longest serving faculty adviser for any Amnesty chapter anywhere in the United States. Dr. Betz was the 2009 recipient of the Lawrence C. Gallen, OSA, Faculty Service Award.
In honor of his steadfast leadership in countless social justice and peace movements, and his unflinching resolve to stand against injustice wherever it is found, the Center for Peace and Justice Education renamed its "Solidarity award" for Dr. Betz. This tribute is a small acknowledgment of the tremendous impact of a man who lived his commitment to peace and justice each and every day.
2026 Recipient: Autumn Coard
Words from Katie Regan Lenehan at the 2026 graduation:
I’d like to start by recognizing that Autumn has been a student worker for the Center for Peace and Justice Education since 2023. Autumn began at CPJE when our offices were in Corr Hall and she even helped with the move to St Ritas—sifting through countless Peace and Justice files.
In those files, she would certainly have come across the name Joe Betz.
Joe Betz, for whom this award is named, we remember fondly. His family is here: his wife Toni, his daughters Margaret and Elise, and two of his grandchildren, Courtney and Wesley. We remember Joe for his unflinching resolve to stand against injustice.
Autumn Coard is all about taking action to promote justice and equality.
She is a member of the Shinnecock Nation, Native Americans at the eastern end of Long Island. When she arrived at Villanova, she sprung to action to support Indigenous students and to share the richness and traditions of Native and Indigenous culture. She is the Co-founder and president of the Native and Indigenous Students Association (NISA)
Autumn through NISA has worked to do the following:
- Publicize courses with indigenous content
- Begin the process of adding an Indigenous Studies attribute to the curriculum
- and the process of establishing a scholarship for Indigenous Students
- Organize Villanova’s first on-campus powwow (the 2nd annual took place on Riley Ellipse this April-- you probably heard the drumming; you may even have danced)
- NISA has worked to showcase indigenous leaders around the world
- Autumn sat on a panel on Land Acknowledgments with local indigenous leaders
- NISA has raised awareness about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Movement
- And finally, NISA has educated the wider community about indigenous culture, celebrating traditions like beading and making frybread
Autumn is also a member AND this year the President of the Association of Black Communication Students (ABCS). ABCS celebrates the richness of Black creativity, innovation, and the profound influence of Black communication across diverse fields.
Autumn recently took action in another way: she and student leaders from various cultural and minority clubs on campus felt it important to voice their concern about a group organizing on campus, a group they believed ran counter to Villanova’s core values. Autumn met with University leaders, several times, and drew up and released a petition. Autumn is not afraid to use her voice when faced with a perceived injustice.
She is also not afraid of a camera or a spotlight or a microphone. She was featured in the 2025 Social Justice Documentary “Seeds We Bury,” as a representative voice from the Shinnecock Nation. The film used generational storytelling to depict the challenges indigenous populations experience around the world.
And this year, Autumn worked hours upon hours helping to write, edit, and host The Lab, the student-run Social Justice Documentary Podcast—AND she co-MC’d the premier of “Out of Bounds,” this year’s documentary.
Autumn told me she’d recently requested a tribal name from an elder. The Native name given to Autumn translates to and so dances a fox. If a fox represents wisdom, adaptability, playfulness, here at Villanova you have wisely advocated for justice and equality with flexibility and even humor.
Perhaps most importantly, you are a storyteller. You’ve told the story of solidarity and the importance of equality through art and culture. You’ve literally danced to the drumming of a powwow, but also, you’ve danced metaphorically. By writing, by beading, by listening, by frying dough in a vat of canola oil and sharing bread with others; you have invited us into the circle in a palatable, creative, welcoming way.
And for that, we are grateful.
Congratulations.
2025: Colin Nemeth
2024: Luz Escobar Zapata
2023: Cathy Nguyen
2022: n/a
2021: Kaylan Purisima
2020: Morgan Micari
2019: Yvonne Nguyen
2018: Mackenzie Niness
2017: Jordan Trinh
2016: Jane Richter
2015: Nora Doherty
2014: Siobhan Cooney
2014: Carolyn Rau
2013: Marissa Pardue
2012: Lauren Adderly
2012: Caitlin Ingraham
2011: Caitlin Greene
Dan Regan Award
The Dan Regan Award is presented to a graduating senior for significant contributions to the flourishing and growth of our Peace and Justice community.
Dr. Dan Regan co-founded the Center for Peace and Justice Education, was its long-time director, and taught Philosophy at Villanova for fifty years. He retired in 2016 and passed away in December of that same year. Dan Regan was known for his engaging teaching style, his easy-going sense of humor, his intellect, and the way in which he welcomed everyone into the conversation, especially if opinions or beliefs were different than his own. We miss Dan. We are indebted to him for the responsibility he felt towards promoting peace and justice, and we present this award in his name to someone who has been an enduring friend to the center.
2026 Recipient: n/a
Words from Katie Regan Lenehan at the 2025 graduation:
I hired Tricia Colaprete as a student worker in 2022. In her follow-up email after our interview, she wrote: “Your office seems to have a great work environment.” Little did she know.
One anecdote highlights Tricia as a perfect fit for our PJ work environment: One day, I asked Tricia if she’d mind attempting to organize the black hole of our giant supply closet. She disappeared in there with nothing but a label maker and emerged victorious. Tricia’s been freshening up PJ – literally and figuratively - ever since.
Since 2023 Tricia’s been a PJ Student Ambassador, helping to build a young program, serving as co-chair this year. She’s grown from being a fan of the Center into being a representative for the Center: visiting classes, tabling at events, posting on social media, brainstorming new ways to communicate PJ issues, and this year, participating in a cross-collaborative group determined to help students affected by dramatic policy changes coming from the Trump administration.
As a PJ Major, she has helped to demonstrate to the Villanova community what this program is about – from her senior thesis on solitary confinement to her research on Milgram and the Rwandan genocide which was honored as a finalist for last year’s Siena Award. And her work as a founding member of the Students for Voices in Palestine organization, is just one of the ways that Tricia has honed her skills in advocacy during her time here at Villanova.
This award is named after my dad, Dan Regan. He taught at Villanova for 50 years. He may have taught the new Pope (If he didn’t, I have a feeling he’d be taking some credit), and he was founding director of the Center for Peace and Justice. Tricia, you are like my dad in the way you prioritize helping those who may not be able to help themselves. You’re funny like him (though his presentation was a bit, louder), and like him, you keep your sense of humor through even the most challenging moments. You two would have gotten a kick out of each other.
When my dad retired from Villanova, his colleague and friend Carol Anthony, now my colleague and friend, wrote him a letter. In it she said, “Your presence always affected things, and always for the better. You got the Center started. And, today, it flourishes.”
Thank you, Tricia, for your help in carrying the Center further. You are now leaving us better than when you found us. We are so grateful that you found us. And we will miss you.
2025 Recipient: Tricia Colaprete
Gustavo Gutierrez Medallion of Academic Excellence in Peace and Justice Studies
The Medallion Awards are conferred each year by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to graduating Seniors who have excelled in their study during their undergraduate years at Villanova. The medallion award for a Major in Peace and Justice is named in honor of Gustavo Gutierrez, a Dominican priest and a prophetic intellectual widely regarded as the of the founder of Liberation Theology.
2026 Recipient: Bianca Brucker
Words from Dr. Kathryn Getek Soltis at 2026 graduation:
Bianca Brucker is graduating with a double major in Peace and Justice Studies and English, along with minors in Communication and Writing & Rhetoric. Since her very first year on campus, she has been a force of light at Villanova. She is a sharp critical thinker capable of asking piercing questions in a disarmingly sunny manner. She writes with clarity and passion, and she demonstrates her intellectual agility in reading across a variety of texts—from essays and poetry to research articles on immigration policy. She deepens discussions, making connections between individual action and systems of power. Bianca pushes her peers to read and care deeply, and her style of engagement is a model to others. In her “Writing Through Conflict” embedded travel course engaging the violence of Northern Ireland's Troubles, Bianca stood out for her ability to navigate treacherous moral questions with deep thoughtfulness. In another course, a faculty colleague reported learning from Bianca a new way to understand a book that he had taught a dozen times before. Bianca was just one of two Villanova undergraduates to participate in the most recent Peace and Justice Studies Association conference, the leading space in North America for scholars and practitioners in a range of peace and justice fields. Her senior thesis, which examines representations of motherhood in three contemporary memoirs by Indigenous women, features meticulous close readings and a nuanced historical framework. It also manifests the qualities that make Bianca such an impressive student: she is both curious and fearless in her pursuit of the common good.” With pride and admiration, we congratulate Bianca on receiving this year’s Gustavo Gutierrez Medallion in Peace and Justice Studies.
2025: Kaleigh Brendle
2024: Christina Tillinghast
2023: Maddie Cerulli
2022: Alli Baroni
2021: Lily Bui
2020: Leah Waltrip
2019: Kalin Schultz
Justice in Business Award
The Justice in Business Award is no longer active as the designated funds for the honor have been fully utilized. We congratulate all previous recipients as well as current students who continue to pursue justice through their engagement with business.
2020: Yeralmi Valladares
2019: Nicole Anderson
2018: Shayla Frederick
2017: Jonathan Pizzutti
2016: Nicholas Carney
2015: Kelly Gabriel
2014: John Catalano