Tag: Spotlight

Resident Spotlight: Runting Luo

Written by International House on May 14, 2025. Posted in News.

When Runting Luo first discovered I-House, she knew immediately that it was more than just student housing—it was the vibrant, global community she had been searching for. A graduate student at NYU studying Management and Analytics, Luo’s journey has taken her across continents. Originally from China, she studied in Japan for her undergraduate degree before arriving in New York to begin a new chapter of learning and cultural exchange. Luo credits her multicultural upbringing and early exposure to different languages for sparking her interest in international...

Alumni Spotlight: Cyrus Mehta ‘90

Written by International House on May 12, 2025. Posted in Alumni News.

Today, Cyrus Mehta ’90 is a prominent attorney for immigrant rights and constitutional protections, handling high-profile cases and shaping policy conversations across the country through his blog and other platforms. He is currently working on Mahdawi v. Trump. Though he planned—twice—to return to India, his path kept unfolding in New York. Friendships and referrals from I-House peers drew him back time and again, eventually establishing him as a leading voice in immigration law. Mehta credits I-House not so much with shaping his career, but with deeply influencing his worldview....

Alumni Spotlight: Sakura Sweethearts Edition

Written by International House on January 22, 2025. Posted in Alumni News.

Spencer Dreher ‘95 and Marisha Wignaraja ‘97 Spencer Dreher and Marisha Wignaraja’s love story began on the dance floor of Davis Hall at I-House. At the time, Dreher was a PhD student studying organic chemistry at Columbia and Wignaraja was pursuing a master’s in international affairs at SIPA. They met at one of I-House’s many lively gatherings—Wignaraja recalls seeing Dreher dancing without a care in the world. “He just kept dancing,” Wignaraja remembers fondly, “And we’ve been dancing together ever since.” Living at I-House played a pivotal role in their relationship....

Resident Spotlight: Anna Avdiushchenko (Ukraine)

Written by International House on April 26, 2022. Posted in News Archive.

Meet Dr. Anna Avdiushchenko, who joined the International House community in March 2022 from Ukraine by way of Poland to conduct a short-term research project related to creating local development policies based on a circular economy in urban environments. A professor at Poland’s Jagiellonian University and a mother of two young children, Anna shares with us a little bit about her work in sustainable development and her experience living at I-House with her family. Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, and what are you studying?I am originally from Ukraine and have been...

Resident Spotlight: Sasha Potter (Scotland)

Written by International House on April 12, 2022. Posted in News Archive.

Meet International House resident Alexandra “Sasha” Potter, who joins our community from Scotland. Sasha is a graduate student in the Climate and Society Masters Program at Columbia University, where she also holds a graduate research assistantship at the National Centre for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) exploring the economic value of disaster resilience. Attendees of our recent event featuring sustainability experts Jeffrey D. Sachs and Andy Darrell will be familiar with Sasha already, as she served as the moderator of this very important discussion on sustainable...

Resident Spotlight: Ritu Thapa (Nepal)

Written by International House on April 5, 2022. Posted in News Archive.

Meet Advritu “Ritu” Thapa from Nepal, a lawyer and activist who joined the I-House community for the Spring 2022 semester while she attends the Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) of the Institute of the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. She is a founding member and the treasurer of the Indigenous Women Legal Awareness Group (INWOLAG), an organization that provides free legal aid to Indigenous and other marginalized groups. Ritu earned her law degree from the University of Pune, India, and is the first LL.M. from her indigenous community. In Nepal, she worked...

Alumna Spotlight: Zubeida (Parpia) Ahmad ’45, A Champion of Women’s Rights

Written by International House on March 31, 2022. Posted in News Archive.

A chance introduction in 2008 led to a friendship and an unlikely “small world” International House connection with a strong and accomplished woman who became one of the earliest advocates of micro-financing and women’s rights in developing countries in the postwar period. Several years after Marianne Murphy Francke and her husband Nils Francke ’85 moved to Geneva, Switzerland, Marianne started taking French lessons. “One of my classmates was moving back to the US and asked if any of us would like to ‘take over’ her weekly lunches with a very interesting older woman who offered...