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Student honored by Anne Frank Center for work in Nepal

By Amelia Schoeneman '12
April 9, 2012

Sudip Bhandari '14 is the first undergraduate to receive the Anne Frank Center's Outstanding Educator Award.

The Anne Frank Center in New York recently selected Sudip Bhandari '14 as this year's recipient of its Outstanding Educator Award.

The honor is part of the 16th Annual Spirit of Anne Frank Awards, and it is the first time the center has given the award to an undergraduate. The award recognizes pioneers in educational programs that enable students to embody tolerance and embrace traditionally excluded groups.

Bhandari was given the award for his work in Nepal this past summer educating youth about the Holocaust, a topic rarely discussed in schools there. He will continue bringing the lessons of the Holocaust to Nepal this coming summer when he and Julia Coffin '12 establish a peace library as part of the Davis Projects for Peace program.

Coffin and Professor of Political Science Kris Thalhammer will travel with Bhandari to New York for the June 12 Spirit of Anne Frank Awards ceremony. The award comes with $1,000 that Bhandari and Coffin will use to establish the peace library.

In addition to the honor he received from the Anne Frank Center, Bhandari was also recently selected to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University, an annual meeting designed to engage young leaders around the world. In addition to sharing the plans for his peace library and connecting with fellow student leaders, Bhandari was one of a small group of students who had the opportunity to have lunch with former President Bill Clinton.

Both of these opportunities have made Bhandari even more excited about moving forward with his next project in Nepal. "It is an encouragement to move ahead, expand my program, and make a tangible difference," he says. "The award and recognition reinforce my sense of the importance of providing historically accurate and comprehensive information to Nepalese students while instilling in them values of mutual respect, tolerance, and freedom."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.