The Philanthropic Assembly proudly continues the rebellious tradition of Society father David Gillespie, who led the organization to break away from the Debating Society just twenty-nine days after its foundation. The Phis follow the ideal of libertas (hinting at a long-standing point of disagreement between the two Societies) in addition to the old Di values of virtus and scientia. Phi Speaker Hannah Howard currently leads the Phis in the continual search for self-betterment. Find a list of current active Philanthropic Senators below. The Philanthropic Constitution may be viewed here.
Marie Thorn, President Emerita
Graduate | Master of Public Health
Joined: November 1st, 2021
“Your general, called to the throne by the choice of the people, and raised on your shields, is restored to you; come and join him.”
– Napoleon to French troops on his return from Elba, 5th March 1815
Dillon Page, Senator
Senior | History and Anthropology
Joined: October 10th, 2022
“For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels. And not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took my blows. And did it my way.”
– Frank Sinatra, My Way
Isabel Ebin, Senator
Junior | German and Economics
Joined: February 26th, 2024
“You might think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”
– Francis Urquhart
Neah Trempé, Senator
Junior | English & Comparative Literature and Classics
Joined: March 4th, 2024
“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.”
– Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Joseph Kledis, Senator
Junior | Economics and Mathematics
Joined: March 4th, 2024
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein
Stormy Epley, Senator
Graduate | Law School
Joined: March 18th, 2024
“In a world too often governed by corruption and arrogance, it can be difficult to stay true to one’s philosophical and literary principles.”
– Lemony Snicket
Cristina Matlock, Senator
Senior | Earth and Marine Sciences
Joined: September 9th, 2024
“I am often asked whether I am a pessimist or an optimist. A frank answer would be that I am neither: I cannot foretell the future. Experience has taught me that life and politics can take unexpected turns. What I do believe is that attempts by the United States and its allies to dominate the world by military and economic coercion will fail. We and our allies must find a way to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes rather than encouraging and supporting violence. Until we do this the future of humanity is in jeopardy.”
– Jack Matlock
Jack Barr, Senator
Sophomore | Peace, War, and Defense
Joined: September 30th, 2024
“We lose—because we win—Gamblers—recollecting which Toss their dice again!”
– Emily Dickinson
Aakash Palathra, President Pro Tempore
Sophomore | Business Administration and Public Policy
Joined: September 30th, 2024
“Ah! Don’t say you agree with me. When people agree with me, I always feel that I must be wrong.”
– Oscar Wilde
Gray Ryan, Senator
Sophomore | Biology
Joined: October 7th, 2024
“I know how I live my life. i have a little magnet brain that attracts the kind of things that obsess me”
– Sophie Calle
Cassius Khan, Senator
Sophomore | Classics and Journalism
Joined: October 14th, 2024
“Our curiosity goes with you on your journey. You walk in the footsteps of those who came before you, and your path guides those who will follow later.”
– Outer Wilds
Charlotte Sullivan, Senator
Sophomore | Psychology B.S. and Political Science
Joined: October 21st, 2024
“Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.”
– General Jack D. Ripper, Dr. Strangelove
Isa Thomas, Senator
Junior | Philosophy and Environmental Studies
Joined: November 4th, 2024
Ewa Zapała, Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa
Sophomore | Neuroscience
Joined: November 4th, 2024
“You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.”
– Paul Kalanithi, “When Breath Becomes Air
Ella Smith, Clerk
Sophomore | History and English & Comparative Literature
Joined: November 11th, 2024
“I, however, find love to be quite simple. Love is the stack of biographies on my nightstand with a bookmark near the end.”
– Julia Nicole Camp (A Bookmark Near the End)
Lochlan Downard, Senator
Sophomore | Political Science
Joined: November 17th, 2024
“One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
– Albert Camus
Amelia Norris, Senator
Sophomore | Psychology and Sociology
Joined: November 17th, 2024
“If speaking kindly to plants helps them grow, imagine what speaking kindly to humans can do.”
– Tara Mackey
Hannah Howard, Phi Speaker
Sophomore | Biology and Communications
Joined: January 27th, 2025
“To make a thing as simple as an apple pie, you have to create the whole wide world.”
– Nicola Yoon, The Sun is also a Star
Joseph England, Critic
Senior | English Literature and German Studies
Joined: February 3rd, 2025
“Be brave, be wicked, be drunk, be reckless, be dissolute, be despotic, be an anarchist. . . be anything you like, but for pity’s sake be it to the top of your bent. Live- live fully, live passionately, live disastrously!”
– Vita Sackville-West
Keily Melchor-Roque, Senator
Sophomore | Psychology and Neuroscience
Joined: February 3rd, 2025
“Hay cosas que se tatúan sin tinta.”
– Kali Uchis
EJ Foster, Senator
Junior | History and Anthropology
Joined: February 24th, 2025
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
– Winston Churchill
Robert Battle, Sergeant-At-Arms
Senior | Mathematics and Computer Science
Joined: March 24th, 2025
“What happens if I don’t give a quote?”
– Robert Battle
Hadi Rahim, Senator
Sophomore | Political Science
Joined: April 14th, 2025
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
– Dr. Seuss
Maisy Woodmansee, Senator
Sophomore | Psychology
Joined: April 14th, 2025
“Fool me once, shame on you, but teach a man to fool me, and I’ll be fooled for the rest of my life.”
– Bojack Horseman, season 1 episode 4
Maggie Pearcy, Senator
Freshman | Chemistry
Joined: September 29th, 2025
“A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise.”
– E.M. Forster
Claire Madsen, Senator
Sophomore | English and Biology
Joined: October 6th, 2025
“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings.”
– Mary Oliver
William Steed, Treasurer
Freshman | Statistics
Joined: October 13th, 2025
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
– Franz Kafka
Anna Lynch, Senator
Sophomore | Public Policy and Computer Science
Joined: October 13th, 2025
“The metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by travelling; namely, the strange.”
– Jane Jacobs
Elizabeth Jenkins, Senator
Freshman | Business Administration
Joined: October 20th, 2025
“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Joseph Moore III, Senator
Sophomore | Political Science and Statistics
Joined: November 3rd, 2025
“Hot Damn!”
– Captain Raymond Holt
Logan Brown, Senator
Freshman | Contemporary European Studies
Joined: November 13th, 2025
“A good plan can turn to disaster if it is not followed up, but a good beginning can lead to victory.”
Ellian Arnao, Senator
Freshman| Communications and Advertising
Joined: November 17th, 2025
“Well, first things first. Have you thought about apologizing? That was pretty bad.”
– Pim, Smiling Friends
