Kareena Bhakta
Kareena Bhakta ’24, from Irvine, California, is concentrating in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and pursuing a certificate in Technology and Society. Bhakta, the Class of 2023 James D. Zirin '61 and Marlene Hess Scholar in the Nation’s Service, is interested in civil rights, criminal justice, and considering public policy through the lens of racial equity. In summer 2021, she worked with the Princeton Civil Rights Commission to research reparations programs around the country and conducted a Racial Equity Impact Assessment on the issue of allowing marijuana dispensaries in the municipality. In summer 2022, she interned with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender in Essex County where she worked under the System Navigation division to help connect clients to social services. Both of those internships were supported by the Pace Center through their RISE and Bogle fellowships, respectively. On campus, Bhakta is the editor for the Review section of the Princeton Legal Journal, co-head editor of the Newsletter section at The Daily Princetonian, a member of the Princeton Debate Panel, and an ambassador for the Whig-Cliosophic Society.