Bard College Berlin News
Civic Engagement accomplishments: Tanishka Murthy ‘27 and Hammayl Shammas ‘27 discuss their successes as last year’s Civic Engagement Fellows
Tanishka and Hammayl led projects focusing on menstrual justice, feminist organizing, and global education access in collaboration with the BCB community and activist partners. With the support of the Fellowship, they carried out a series of events and fundraising efforts as part of EJAAD Berlin, the Bard Feminist Collective, Open Classroom, and the multi-stage Period Project.
“Being able to say that we are supported by an institution gave me an additional sense of confidence that the work I do is considered important by more than just me,” Tanishka explains. “It allowed me to explain what I am doing from not only the position of someone who cares about the issues but as someone who wants to create a better learning environment and community for my college.”
Two of the primary goals set out at the beginning of the Fellowship were fundraising for the Girl on Bike project, which provides Pakistani girls with fully equipped bikes, and a learning center in Kabul, Afghanistan. While the ambitious goals were not met in entirety, Hammayl and Tanishka are nonetheless optimistic about the support they were able to raise.
“Our fundraising efforts are still ongoing,” Hammayl explains. “So far, we have successfully raised about a quarter of our overall goals through two key events: the Valentine’s Fundraiser and the Women’s Day Picnic. We remain committed to continuing these efforts, and we are optimistic about reaching our targets with further community engagement.” Tanishka adds, “We were able to make many new partnerships and attract participants globally for our online events, so a large number of people were able to contribute via the online donation platform.”
A significant achievement of the Fellowship was the Period Project, a three-stage event series aimed at becoming connected, educated, and empowered over menstruation.
“Students and participants who experience periods were able to confidently share their stories of how menstruation affected them throughout their lives, and students who did not experience it were able to learn and think about the issue from new perspectives,” shares Tanishka.
The final Period Project event featured a discussion with Bushra Mahnoor, who leads the grassroots Mahwari Justice movement aimed at combating period poverty in Pakistan. Hammayl says, “She opened our eyes to the reality of period poverty and connected it to bigger issues like climate justice and human rights. It wasn’t just a talk—it was a real call to rethink how we talk about menstruation, moving past stigma and silence.”
In addition, both Hammayl and Tanishka continue to build upon what they learned during the Fellowship at Bard College Berlin and globally. Tanishka—who compiled a Fellowship Report at the end of the year—has co-organized an all-day public event on August 30, 2025 with EJAAD Berlin and the Afghanistan Development Academy titled “Silenced in Homeland, Heard in Berlin: Women, Students & Diaspora Resistance,” bringing a variety of guest speakers to the BCB campus.
Also this summer, Hammayl participated in the 2025 Get Engaged Student Action and Youth Leadership Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania and took part in an Erasmus+ program in Austria, where she successfully pitched the Girl on Bike project and received a microgrant.
Tanishka and Hammayl both express that the Fellowship means more than just a grant or a title. It demonstrates Bard College Berlin’s commitment to encouraging and celebrating student initiatives that bring difficult conversations to the forefront and shed light on causes which are often forgotten.
Applications are now open for the 2025/2026 Fellowship. Apply here by September 7, 2025.
By: Sophia Paudel, Bard College Berlin Communications
Post Date: 08-26-2025