For over a decade the Franklin County based Traprock Center has awarded scholarships to students from Greenfield Community College who demonstrate a commitment to peace and social justice. The scholarship program founded by Professor Abbie Jenks to honor the late area activists Wally and Juanita Nelson, is now the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice/Wally and Juanita Nelson Scholarship.
This year two students, among nine applicants, have been selected to win the scholarships, which will be awarded Monday, April 13 at GCC. “We are delighted that Venesha Odhoch and Rizwana Khan can share the annual $1,000. scholarship this year,” says Traprock board member Pat Hynes. “They each describe important work and goals contributing to peace and social justice.”
In her application essay, Venesha Odhoch wrote that she “grew up in a third-world country where access to healthcare, food, and education was limited, and where inequality was not theoretical but lived daily. Peace, in that context, was not simply the absence of conflict and the presence of dignity, care, and opportunity. Witnessing these disparities instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility to work toward a more just and compassionate world.”
Venesha “aspires to become a Nurse Practitioner and to serve both locally and in Kenya, where healthcare access remains deeply limited.” Her goal “is not only to provide clinical care, but to participate in sustainable, community-based solutions that promote health, education, and dignity. Peace is built when people are seen, heard, and supported,” she writes, “and social justice is achieved when systems are transformed to reflect that belief.”
GCC student Rizwana Khan “contributes to social justice by helping build inclusive spaces in Amherst for the young, local veterans, and LGBTQ+ community members. These spaces center diverse experiences, particularly those shaped by displacement, trauma, or systemic inequities. By bringing together people with profoundly different histories, we create opportunities for dialogue, understanding, and shared problem-solving—ensuring empathy is translated into meaningful action rather than sentiment alone.”
“Through this work,” she concludes,”I engage with both the emotional and structural dimensions of social justice, and support initiatives that acknowledge and address historical harms, facilitate community discussions on equity, and advocate for policies that promote inclusion.”
For more on this annual scholarship program and background on Wally and Juanita Nelson see:
https://www.traprock.org/programs/awards-scholarships/nelson-scholarships/