Oxford Consortium for Human Rights (for University of Oregon Students)

The Oxford Consortium for Human Rights (OCHR) conducts workshop seminars for students and faculty in collaboration with the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC). The Oxford Consortium hosts annual workshops for students and faculty in Oxford (spring and summer) and New York and Sonoma (fall), with additional workshops in development in other locations and with different areas of focus in human rights. The workshops are student focused, but with a faculty component involving collaborative research (learn more about workshops here). 

The Consortium began in 2012, with generous financial support from Steve Raymund, David Stern, and Laura and Bob Sillerman, and the administrative support of Former Dean David Frank of the University of Oregon Clark Honors College and Caroline Massey of Merton College, Oxford. 

It is co-chaired by Cheyney Ryan and Hugo Slim, both Senior Fellows of ELAC. Dr. Ryan is also Director of Human Rights Programs for ELAC, Dr. Slim is Head of Policy for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The executive director is Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox of Quinnipiac University. The Consortium's work is enriched by the ongoing participation of our affiliated faculty members, as well as guest presenters who have included human rights practitioners, UN representatives, non-governmental organization leaders, and Oxford University scholars. 

The Office of Distinguished Scholarships plays a key role in the outreach, recruitment, and application processes for University of Oregon undergraduate students facilitating their participation in the workshops and providing funding support.  The OCHR experience is integrated into the pipeline programs for developing distinguished scholarships candidates at the University of Oregon, and there is a strong correlation between OCHR alum and distinguished scholarships endorsed candidates, finalists, and recipients from the University of Oregon.  

Recent examples of OCHR alumni include: Nayantara Arora, 2024 UO alum and 2024 Rhodes Scholar, became the first UO OCHR Rhodes Scholar and looks forward to strengthening the UO-Oxford network while pursuing her DPhil in Clinical Medicine as a member of St. Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford.  She has offered to perform livestream conversations with prospective and current UO distinguished scholarship applicants from the Rhodes House and document her experience through a blog.  Charles Petrik, 2025 UO alum and 2025 Rhodes national finalist will join Nayantara at Oxford to begin his MPhil in Global and Area Studies.  Charles and Sophia Barghouti (‘27 Political Science, Middle Eastern and North African Studies) represented the UO at the"4th Global Peace Summit" at United Nations Thailand in January 2025. Sophia earned admission to Harvard Kennedy School’s inaugural class of the Junior Summer Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs. Violet Ashley (’27 Journalism) represented the UO at the Young Diplomats Forum in Brussels, Belgium in September 2025.

Website: www.oxfordconsortium.org

For more information, contact David Frank or the Office of Distinguished Scholarships.