TOP LAW STUDENT WINS LUSTIG TRAVEL GRANT

Jarryd Shaw and Dr Paul Gardner AM

B'nai B'rith’s Bernard J. Lustig Memorial Scholarship has expanded its scholarship scheme and for the first time, it will be awarding more than one scholarship per year.
 
“In the past,” chairman of trustees Dr Paul Gardner AM explained, “we offered the scholarship in two categories, as a travel grant to outstanding university student leaders, or as a post-graduate research grant.  However, our available funds allowed us to make only one major award each year.
 
“This year, B'nai B'rith’s Unit Akiba decided to make a substantial grant to the Lustig scholarship, derived from the Peter Krafel Bequest, a BB Akiba member who passed away in 2016 and left a legacy to support various B'nai B'rith educational programs.  This will allow us to offer more than one scholarship each year.  We are naturally very grateful to Unit Akiba for their support. It is an on-going annual commitment.”
 
The first student to benefit from this expansion is Monash student Jarryd Shaw, who was presented with his travel grant at the beginning of a Unit Akiba meeting in July. In announcing the award and introducing the winner to the audience, Dr Gardner encapsulated Jarryd’s life as a Mt Scopus graduate and beyond:  “Brilliant academically, high level sporting achievements, engaged in interfaith relations, involved in the Jewish community, Friday night services, Jewish Holocaust Centre, projects in Israel.  The list goes on and on.” At Monash, he is taking a combined Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce program.  His academic record to date shows High Distinctions in thirteen subjects. 

​High academic achievement, while a necessary criterion for winning a Lustig Travel Grant, is not sufficient.  “He won the award,” Gardner explained, “as a result of his work within the law faculty as a student leader.  He tutors first-year students. He is the deputy co-ordinator of the Monash Law Students Society Peer Mentoring Program. He has been appointed as a research assistant to the Dean of the Law faculty, working on a proposal to establish the Anti-Death Penalty Institute, which aims to abolish the death penalty across Asia.”
 
Jarryd is leaving Melbourne in early August and is heading for Pennsylvania State University, a highly rated Ivy League institution. He has been accepted as a student in the university’s business school, where he will study game theory and international economics.
 
In his application for the scholarship, Jarryd stated that he intended to “serve my community as an advocate, both in a professional and charitable capacity.”  He noted that he had already been accepted as a member of a program known as the Global Engagement Community at Pennsylvania.  He explained that this is “a leadership program designed to combine international exchange students with domestic students to develop an understanding of cultural differences. As a person who fundamentally identifies as a global citizen, learning more about various cultures and backgrounds will assist my development as a leader and allow me to be more engaged with the broader community and a better leader of the Jewish community.”
 
The scholarship is B'nai B'rith Victoria’s oldest on-going project. It was established in 1955 following the death of Bernard Lustig in January of that year in a car accident.  A brilliant young barrister, he was at the time the president of B'nai B'rith Youth Melbourne.
 
In his acceptance of the award, Jarryd noted the tragic parallel with the recent death of another outstanding lawyer and community leader, Anton Hermann, who had been a personal mentor.
 
Presentations in the Post-graduate Research awards category will be made in September.
 
For further information, contact Dr Paul Gardner 9578 4724, 0412 275 623, pgardner@bigpond.net.au
If you wish to interview Jarryd Shaw, his contact details are 0449 199 995; jarrydshaw09@gmail.com

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