Two St. Olaf students named Smaby Peace Scholars
St. Olaf College students Ella Cereghino ’25 and Jack Fuerstenberg ’26 have been named Smaby Peace Scholars.
The Peace Scholars Program is designed to expand students’ awareness of current issues relating to peace, justice, democracy, and human rights through a series of educational experiences in Norway. Two students from five Norwegian-American Lutheran colleges — Augsburg, Concordia, Luther, St. Olaf, and Pacific Lutheran University — are chosen to participate.
Students at St. Olaf receive funding to participate in the program through the Philip C. Smaby Peace Scholars Endowed Scholarship, which was established in honor of the late Philip Carlyle Smaby, a Minneapolis-St. Paul philanthropist who attended St. Olaf. Three of his children — Mark Smaby ’66, Gary Smaby ’71, and John Smaby ’76 — are St. Olaf alumni as well.
The program gives students an opportunity to study Norwegian perspectives on peace, conflict, and dialogue firsthand while spending seven weeks in Oslo, Norway. Scholars will also complete a research paper and research presentation on a topic of their own choice relating to Norway and the course content.
“I think as we become increasingly affected by climate change and new technological developments, it becomes more and more important to develop trust between scientists and the public and to find solutions that meet the needs of states and parties with conflicting interests.”
Ella Cereghino ’25
Cereghino is majoring in physics with international relations and environmental studies concentrations. She also plays viola in the St. Olaf Orchestra. Cereghino is interested in pursuing a career in science journalism or foreign affairs with a focus on environmental issues. She is excited by the Peace Scholars Program’s focus on dialogue.
“I think as we become increasingly affected by climate change and new technological developments, it becomes more and more important to develop trust between scientists and the public and to find solutions that meet the needs of states and parties with conflicting interests,” Cereghino says. “I hope that this summer, I’ll get more of a sense for how dialogue can be used in the context of these larger and more complicated relationships.”
“Working through all of this alongside a community of scholars with similar curiosities and differing perspectives feels like the perfect combination of everything I have enjoyed about my academic and extracurricular experiences at St. Olaf.”
Jack Fuerstenberg ’26
Fuerstenberg is majoring in political science and quantitative economics. He also is a member of the St. Olaf Chapel Choir and Alpha Phi Omega, a leadership development and service organization. He plans to pursue a career in political science and economics on an international stage. He is excited to study in Norway because of its active role in mitigating the effects of injustice on a national and international scale.
“Witnessing firsthand the strategies that Norway is employing to foster peace will help me understand how my own ideas on peace could be implemented on the policy level,” he says. “Working through all of this alongside a community of scholars with similar curiosities and differing perspectives feels like the perfect combination of everything I have enjoyed about my academic and extracurricular experiences at St. Olaf.”