Winsted, CT_ Just as more classes are being offered on-ground post-COVID at Northwestern CT Community College, three students will be landing on-ground this month in Oxford, England to attend the annual Oxford Consortium on Human Rights.

Lena Neri, Isabella Jacobs, and Inez Ortiz, will attend this year’s event at the Magdalen College, University of Oxford, England from March 14 through March 20.

The Oxford Consortium for Human Rights partners with universities and human rights practitioners to host annual workshops dedicated to the teaching and research of human rights, humanitarian ethics, global conflict and peace-building. Workshops provide structured and sustained conversations with leading scholars and practitioners of human rights as well as with peers from the United States and international institutions. Participants become part of a new learning community with the opportunity to continue collaborating with one another after the seminar is complete. This spring’s workshops will focus on Human Rights, Armed Conflict and the Struggle for Peace.

“I am so thankful to be able to attend the Consortium in Oxford this year and am especially excited to be around other students who have a similar interest in human rights issues,” said Jacobs. “I can’t wait to learn about the experiences and passions of the human rights leaders, as well as ways in which we can get involved in promoting humanitarian aid.”

Both Neri and Jacobs are current Northwestern students with an anticipated graduation date of May 2022, while Ortiz is a Northwestern 2021 alum currently attending Southern CT State University. All three students have participated in Northwestern’s Team Success Scholars (TSS) program. This highly successful program provides one-on-one holistic support to students focusing on personal development and academic and career success. Susan Dichter, TSS Program Director and Jessie-Rae DePonte, TSS Program Assistant will be attending the Oxford Symposium as well.

“The Oxford Consortium specifically selects students who might not otherwise be able to attend conferences of this caliber.” said Dichter. “These experiences are truly transformative for our students. They learn about human rights issues on a global scale and then they come back home empowered with the skills and passion to make grass-roots change in their local community.”

“I feel so grateful to be able to attend the Oxford consortium for human rights; being in an atmosphere of diverse individuals who prioritize human rights is such an honor,” said Ortiz. “I hope to learn from other students and presenters on different ways to combat armed conflict from a community level. With the armed conflict we see going on throughout the globe this work is essential and can be transformative within our own community,” she said.

Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, Associate Professor of Legal Studies at Quinnipiac University and Executive Director of the Oxford Consortium, has worked closely with Northwestern students since 2016 on community action planning initiatives. “Students from Quinnipiac and Northwestern work collaboratively throughout the year on local projects, sharing ideas and best practices toward a sustainable solution in their own backyard,” said Dichter. “One theme focus for both Northwestern and Quinnipiac this year is food insecurity, a challenge in Litchfield County as well as New Haven County. Both universities are developing community gardens to offer fresh produce to community residents,” she said.

Funding for consortium attendance is provided by the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, Northwest Community Bank, The Northwestern Community College Foundation, The Oxford Consortium for Human Rights and Southern CT State University.

“I am very excited for this opportunity to be a part of the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights,” said Neri. “I can’t wait to hear about the different activism people are involved in. This is going to be a once in a lifetime experience.”

For more information, contact Susan Dichter at sdichter@nwcc.edu or Jessie DePonte at jdeponte@nwcc.edu.