Samiha Choudhury was the 2025 Winner of the Mary Behrend Impact Award.
Samiha Choudhury, a 2024 graduate of Penn State Behrend, is the recipient of the third-annual Mary Behrend Impact Award, presented by the Women’s Engagement Council, or WEC.
The award was established to recognize individuals who have made contributions that advance the purpose of WEC, which was founded to support and lift women through programs related to women, to the college, and to the greater Erie community.
Choudhury, who earned a degree in political science, was honored at a spring luncheon at the John M. Lilley Library.
“Mary Behrend was a philanthropist of action,” said Priscilla Hamilton, a WEC board member and chair of the award committee. “She didn’t just write a check. She stuck around, continuing to nurture her gift. It’s that keen vision to see the big picture, grasp the moment, and make something significant happen that we celebrate in Samiha Choudhury.”
Choudhury, a native of Queens, New York, faced hurdles during her time at Behrend. She was a first-generation college student whose parents emigrated from Bangladesh. She arrived at Behrend in 2020, when the college was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nonetheless, she made the most of her time at the college. She was a Lion Ambassador, a School of Humanities and Social Sciences Ambassador, and a member of the Student Government Association and the Student Multicultural Advisory Recruitment Team. She served as a teaching assistant, a resident assistant, and an admissions tour guide.
In 2023, seeing a need to address the unique challenges faced by first-generation students, she said, she founded the student group Behrend First-Gens. She served as president of the organization for two years and was named to the University-wide First-Generation Advisory Council.
Her accomplishments earned her the University’s Ralph Dorn Hertzel Memorial Award for leadership in 2024.
“Mary Behrend’s legacy of generosity and commitment to education laid the foundation for a community where students can thrive, and I’m incredibly proud to have even a small part of that legacy,” Choudhury said. “While my college years were challenging, I was fortunate to have a circle of amazing women around me who kept me going and inspired me to create a community where every student feels seen and empowered.
“These experiences have taught me that true impact happens when we listen, uplift, and create inclusive opportunities for others,” she said. “As the youngest recipient of this award, I’d like to remind students that no effort is too small to create a powerful and lasting change.”
Choudhury, who plans to attend law school, is currently a paralegal for an immigration attorney at Khan Law LLC in Detroit. She manages cases involving family-based petitions, asylum, refugee and status adjustments, and other topics. She provides translation services in Bengali, Sylheti, and Spanish.
“Samiha’s amazing accomplishments at such a young age, and the role model she exemplifies for empowering women, really channels the spirit of Mary Behrend,” Hamilton said.