NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Jan Fiderio at 603.283.2107

December 18, 2008 For Immediate Release

Christina Oliva, Antioch University New England Student, Honored

Environmental Studies master's degree student awarded the William R. Ginsberg, Thomas K. Wessels Scholarship

AUNE Student, Christina Oliva Keene, NH - Antioch University New England master's degree student Christina Oliva is now the proud recipient of the William R. Ginsberg, Thomas K. Wessels Endowed Scholarship. Tom Wessels, core faculty and associate chair for external relations in Antioch University New England's Department of Environmental Studies, presented Christina with the scholarship at an environmental studies department celebration on Thursday, December 18.

The merit-based scholarship of $2500 honors a second-year, environmental studies master's degree student who has displayed excellence in academic achievement and demonstrated leadership.

"Christina is clearly someone who is a doer and rallies others to her causes," said Tom Wessels. "As such, I think she displays the qualities we are looking for in our first Ginsberg/Wessels scholar."

About Christina Oliva
Christina is a master's degree candidate in both environmental studies and elementary education. She now serves as AUNE's student government outreach/research coordinator. Earlier, she was the Keene, New Hampshire Earth-Day coordinator, and in 2007, a CTEC Symposium volunteer. Chistina comes to AUNE from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. At Skidmore, she was president of the Environmental Action Club and coordinated the Skidmore Earth Day celebration. She received the 2002 Skidmore President's Award for her work towards establishing a rape crisis center and a 2002 Skidmore Women in Leadership Award for her counseling work in the dormitories. For her thesis, Christina created the Saratoga Springs Downtown Food Waste Initiative. The initiative, part of the city's carbon-reduction program, is a food-waste composting plan for Skidmore and downtown Saratoga Springs restaurants. Christina's hometown is Southampton, New York.

About the Grant
The William R. Ginsberg, Thomas K. Wessels Endowed Scholarship was created in 2008 by a gift from the estate of William R. Ginsberg, a friend of AUNE, a noted environmentalist, a graduate of Antioch, and former Antioch Board Member, and AUNE core faculty and associate chair for external relations, Tom Wessels. It is a merit-based scholarship that rewards high academic achievement and leadership. Christine is the first student to receive this new scholarship.

About Antioch University New England (AUNE)
This is Antioch University New England's forty-sixth year as an institution of higher education. Located in Keene, New Hampshire, AUNE offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values-based master's, doctoral, and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Degrees in education, leadership and management, environmental studies, and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service, and sustainability. Antioch University New England is the oldest and largest of Antioch University’s graduate campuses. For more information about Antioch University New England visit our web site at: www.antiochne.edu.

About Antioch University
Antioch University, a visionary academic community composed of five campuses in four states, is uniquely capable of bringing its students' brightest ideals and highest ambitions to life. Each campus has its own distinct academic programs, community life, and regional or national identity. Antioch University is founded on principles of rigorous liberal arts education, innovative experiential learning and socially engaged citizenship. The multiple campuses of the University nurture in their students the knowledge, skills and habits of reflection to excel as lifelong learners, democratic leaders, and global citizens who live lives of meaning and purpose. For more information visit: www.antioch.edu.

Last Updated: 4/1/10