Aloian Memorial Scholars

Enriching life at the Houses 

Head shots of smiling Aloian Scholars

Fariba Mahmud and Courtney Rabb

Photographs courtesy of the Harvard Alumni Association

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has named Fariba Mahmud ’22, of Winthrop House, and Courtney Rabb ’22, of Eliot House, as the 2021 David and Mimi Aloian Memorial Scholars for thoughtful leadership and enriching the quality of life in their Houses.

House Committee leader Mahmud, of St. George, Utah, has been the driving force behind Winthrop’s anti-racism advocacy, creating the ThropDates and Lion Buddies programs, along with activities that support the Black Lives Matter movement. Beyond House life, Mahmud also served as co-president of the South Asian Association and community outreach intern for the Harvard College Women’s Center.

Rabb, of Morgantown, West Virginia, co-chairs the House Committee and has fostered a sense of community through activities that include: coordinating a Housing Day video, creating the Big Sibling-Little Sibling program, and helping to lead an Eliot Faculty Roundtable and initiate a fundraising campaign for the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition, Rabb has served as treasurer of the All House Committee, peer adviser for the applied mathematics concentration, and as a member of the women’s rugby team.

You might also like

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.

The longtime administrator, who retired from the post in 2018, returns as the College reorganizes. 

Most popular

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

The University has pushed the adoption of AI into teaching and operations, but faculty resistance is growing louder.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Explore More From Current Issue

University Hall with steps and the John Harvard statue, surrounded by trees and a grassy lawn.

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.

Three young women posed side by side against red background.

The 2026-2027 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.