Zeba Kokan

2020 Truman Scholar

Hometown

Carmel, IN

Major

Brain and Behavioral Sciences

College

College of Health and Human Sciences

Major

Global Studies

College

College of Liberal Arts

 

Zeba Kokan has been named a 2020 Truman Scholar. The Truman Scholarship recognizes and invests in leaders dedicated to a future in public service. Kokan is pursuing a future in improving systemic methods for providing mental health care to marginalized groups and decreasing the prevalence of policies that contribute to poor well-being.

 

“I aspire to help reduce systematic discrimination at local and national levels by creating and advocating for policies that invoke the public health and socio-political contexts in which bias arises,” Kokan says. “I hope to implement community-based programs that highlight the mental health impact of anxiety related to the perils of discriminatory rhetoric and nationalism."

 

At the heart of Kokan’s efforts are supporting the common struggles of groups marginalized on the basis of race, religion, or gender and gender identity, and the necessity of spreading any gains of one group for the benefit of all. As director of diversity and inclusion for student government and a member of Purdue’s Inclusion Diversity Ambassadors Program, she has stood for all students. In her role as Midwest regional program chair of the Muslim Youth of North America, she has overseen programming for the social and spiritual needs of the community and promoted civic and service engagement. Her experience includes initiating Islam Awareness Week as president of Purdue’s Muslim Students Association.

 

Jay Akridge, Purdue Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity, says, “We are proud of our Boilermakers who lead through public service and excel as scholars. Zeba is a shining example of both and is most deserving of this prestigious scholarship, which will support her in her efforts to improve our world.”

 

Kokan’s focus on academics is also noteworthy. She has conducted research on trauma and narrative identity. The combination of her two majors, brain and behavioral sciences and global studies, is of particular interest to her goals as a public servant, says Tithi Bhattacharya, associate professor and director of the Global Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts. 

 

“Zeba has managed to use different elements of her two majors – majors that could be, for many, quite irreconcilable – to do stellar academic work,” Bhattacharya says. “This is evident not only in her scholarship but also in how she combines her faith work, her academic priorities, and her commitment to social justice.”