Isabelle Figaro, T'10

Isabelle Figaro is a junior from New Hampshire.  She is majoring in International Comparative Studies (ICS) and Arabic.  Over the past couple of years, she has been privileged to be involved in several activities and organizations both on and off campus.  Interested in issues of human rights and interfaith dialogue, she is currently involved in the Duke Human Rights Coalition, the Muslim Student Association and Duke Africa.  Also, while on the executive board of the Haitian Student Alliance for the past three years, she has worked to raise awareness about crisis in Haiti, through service projects, events and academic discussions.  In Durham, she has been lucky enough to advocate for black business though Drake, Scott & Associations (an activist consulting firm), holding events for minority business networking and being involved in the planning stages of the founding of the Durham Black Chamber of Commerce.  Between her freshman and sophomore years, Isabelle studied abroad twice.  In Jordan, she conducted several independent research projects on freedom of speech among university students and the socio-political effects of water scarcity in the badia.  In Yemen, she worked at the Democracy School for children's rights and taught English to people, who faced socio-economic disadvantages 40 years after emancipation.  Currently, Isabelle is in the planning stages of her senior thesis, which will be a comparative study of theologically motivated social movements and organizations in the Middle East and Latin America.  When she has free time, she spends it playing piano, painting and writing poetry.  Being a Reginaldo Howard Scholar has truly opened doors for the educational experiences she has gained both in and out of the classroom.