Reilly Love Rebhahn
Manhattan College
Reilly Rebhahn is an accomplished scholar and Lasallian Leader on campus, using her passion for social justice and for correcting inequalities to further both her academic and cocurricular commitments. She has worked in the community, including with Concourse House Shelter for Women & Children and in the Manhattan College garden at Marble Hill, as well as on campus with JustPeace, the Black Students Union, Sanctus Artem, and other organizations. Ms. Rebhahn's coursework on community organizing, Catholic social teaching, slavery and abolition, and Islam in America demonstrate her commitment to marginalized groups and being part of the solution.
Reilly is deeply committed to diversity and social justice. She identified a number of problems on campus, including a "people auction" and threats from white supremacists on campus, and she worked with faculty and administrators to help bring awareness to the problems and a strong commitment to diversity in finding a solution.
Reilly has a great ability to bring people together, and to be perceptive about the needs and fears of others. This empathetic sense makes her a huge asset on campus. All of these elements demonstrate her maturity and experience with conflict resolution, from the personal to the political, in ways that will make our campus stronger.
Personal Statement
Growing up, my parents instilled in me the values of compassion and empathy. I attended a diverse elementary school in my community and when I was six years old, I checked out a library book about Ruby Bridges and her experience as one of the first African Americans to attend an integrated school in the South. Ruby's story deeply moved me and lit the fire in my heart and spirit which motivates me to fight for racial equality every day.
Throughout middle school and high school, I regularly volunteered at homeless shelters and community centers which granted me the opportunity to talk with groups of adults and teens from a wide range of cultural backgrounds about social inequalities and the roots of oppression. Social justice is my calling, and I have been committed to using my position in life to educate people not familiar with the structures of oppression which keep people of color marginalized. I continue to volunteer in my hometown and in the Bronx, examining and analyzing the privileges in society that grant people unequal opportunities for personal development and advancements. By supporting intersectional feminism, dismantling the destructive processes of white supremacy, and addressing the socio-economic barriers all through empathetic communication across races, I believe there is hope for liberation from the institution of racism in our communities.
