This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Five students received a stipend as they gained significant working experience in public service this summer through Lafayette internship endowments.
Taren Weidaw ’06 (Allentown, Pa.), a double major in English and music and Trustee Scholar, used her skills and interests in the marketing and development office at Allentown-based Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!) under the guidance of director Sean King. As the recipient of the Class of 1974 internship endowment, she wrote grants and press releases, dealt with national media representatives, promoted events, did merchandising, and helped direct young men and women who participate in YEA!’s music programs.
Weidaw has also externed in public relations at the Recording Academy in New York City. At Lafayette she is vice president of public relations for Delta Delta Delta sorority and serves on the Panhellic Council executive board. She is an HIV/AIDS volunteer, a member of the College Choir and Gymnastics Club, a music department proctor, and an office supervisor for Kirby Sports Center. She was Field Athlete of the Year, Patriot League champion in women’s javelin, and a member of the All-Patriot League First Team last year. She also served on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, was Residence Hall Council South College president, and volunteered during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
Benefiting from the William A. Kirby ’59 and Franklin C. Phifer Jr. ’72 internship endowment funds, Haunani Yap ’06 (Singapore), a former public policy intern with the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington, D.C., returned to the Nation’s Capital in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which strives for the betterment of the condition of indigenous Hawaiians. Yap, an international affairs major, worked with bureau chief Martha Ross to prepare and distribute informational packets to members of Congress, helped clarify to policy makers the intent of the office regarding pending legislation that aims to re-organize native Hawaiians into a group that receives legal recognition by the U.S. government, and participated in a campaign to remind native Hawaiians living in the U.S. to support the bill.
Yap is a member of the Iota Sigma Rho international affairs honor society, co-president of Alternative School Break Club, chair of International Affairs Club, International Students Association public information officer, Imagining America Project student assistant, and dean of studies peer counselor. She was also film co-chair of Lafayette Activities Forum, a panelist for the admissions office, DJ for WJRH, and volunteered for Kids in the Community and Midnight Run. In addition, she is the co-founder of Sisters without Borders, an organization that volunteers in Cambodia.
Biochemistry major and EXCEL Scholar Sharon Bandstra ’06 (Midland Park, N.J.), co-author of several papers published in scholarly journals and recipient of the Neil D. Levin ’76 Public Service Fund, observed the pathology lab at Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. Bandstra learned directly from medical technicians, oncologists, and pathologists while they worked inside the lab – a unique experience for an undergraduate.
Bandstra studied abroad with 33 other Lafayette choral students through a January interim session course, singing soprano in the choir at various landmarks in Central and Eastern Europe while learning about languages and cultures. She is a member of the campus chapter of the American Chemical Society and Lafayette Christian Fellowship.
Allison Owen ’07 (Cheshire, Conn.), a law and philosophy major, and Daria Szkwarko ’06 (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), a double major in neuroscience and French, received the Career Services 2005 Internship stipend.
Owen, a Trustee Scholar, worked with David Gulick, the assistant state’s attorney of the Waterbury Courthouse of Connecticut. She closely followed him and his staff, observing and participing in all aspects of legal processes such as interrogations, interviews, litigation, sentencing, and research.
She is a Lafayette peer counselor and “Girls Talk” coordinator at the Boys and Girls Club of Easton. She has also tutored after-school at March Elementary.
Szkwarko, who externed last winter at St. Luke’s Hospital and experienced the daily activities of an osteopathic medical resident, interned with Antonio Ciccone ’85 at his physician’s office in New Brunswick, N.J. She monitored Ciccone’s practices at a small health care facilty and assisted him on rounds and in the office. Ciccone also advised her in researching medical schools.
Szkwarko is a track and field team captain, student athletic trainer for Lafayette Sports Medicine, director of member development for Alpha Phi sorority, volunteer for Sharing Caring (adults with dementia) in Easton, and a photographer and copy editor for The Lafayette. She won the James F. Bryant ’40 Excellence Award, given each year to a junior student who meets standards of excellence by demonstrating high academic achievement, lettering in at least one varsity sport, and showing noticeable and noteworthy evidence of community service.