Two students selected as George Mitchell ScholarsBy Eric Quiñones Princeton NJ -- Two Princeton seniors majoring in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs have been awarded 2004-05 George J. Mitchell Scholarships for a year of postgraduate study at universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Robert Mulcare and Cynthia Romero are among 12 Mitchell Scholars chosen from 245 applicants representing 166 colleges and universities nationwide. Mulcare will seek a master's degree in economic policy evaluation at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Romero will pursue a master's degree in comparative ethnic conflict at Queen's University in Belfast. The scholarships, inaugurated in 1998, recognize outstanding American students who exhibit the highest standards of academic excellence, leadership and community service. Administered by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S.-Ireland Alliance, the scholarships are named in honor of the former U.S. senator and his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mulcare, who is from Greenwich, Conn., also is pursuing a minor in finance at Princeton. He is president of the Foundation for Student Communication, which publishes the widely circulated Business Today magazine. He directed the 2002 Business Today International Conference in New York, which featured prominent business leaders and attracted students representing 92 institutions in 16 countries. Mulcare also has worked as an economics tutor, served as a mentor in the University's Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, written for the Triangle Club musical theater troupe and played for Princeton's ice hockey club. Mulcare plans to join the international consulting firm McKinsey & Co. after his year in Ireland. He eventually hopes to earn a Ph.D. in economics and to pursue a career with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, working to develop and implement policies toward global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "In order to hone a justifiable worldview of America's policies, it is essential to study economics outside of the United States, amidst a confluence of different perspectives," Mulcare said. Harold Feiveson, a senior research policy analyst in the Wilson School, led a policy task force on weapons of mass destruction last year in which Mulcare participated. "His research was marked by an ability to approach problems with an open and independent mind -- he did not take anything for granted," Feiveson said. "He had a knack for stating issues with great clarity and in a humorous manner which always advanced the class debates."
Romero, who is from North Brunswick, N.J., has concentrated on Eastern Europe in her studies in the Wilson School, primarily focusing on ethnic relations. She is the president of Accion Puertorriquena y Amigos, the University's Latino student association, and leads the committee that organizes Princeton's Latino Heritage Month. Romero's interest in ethnic relations was heavily influenced by her summer 2002 internship with the Community Support Foundation, a Romanian organization that assists disadvantaged Roma families, as well as a semester studying at Central European University in Budapest. She plans a career in public service that will focus on improving minority relations in the United States and playing a role in setting American foreign policy. "By attempting to gather as much experience on the many dimensions of civil strife, I hope to eventually influence America's policy-making from a balanced and well-informed perspective," she said. Romero currently serves as an intern at the Project on Ethnic Relations, a Princeton-based organization that works toward preventing ethnic conflict in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. She also volunteers as a mentor to the Princeton University Preparatory Program, a program that helps local high school students prepare for college. "Cindy is one of my favorite students in over a decade at Princeton," said Miguel Centeno, director of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and founder of the Princeton Prep program. "She has been transformed by her time at Princeton, but never lost sight of who she really was. I think that we will hear about her diplomatic endeavors in years to come and that we will be proud to count her as an alumna." |
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