About Us

Ioannis (Yannis) D. Evrigenis, the Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics, teaches courses on political philosophy, ethics and international relations, and the social contract, and is the author of books and articles on a wide range of topics in political thought, including Fear of Enemies and Collective Action, for which he received the Delba Winthrop Award for Excellence in Political Science.  Before joining CMC in 2023, he taught at Tufts University, where he served as Director of the International Relations Program, co-founded Tufts' Civic Studies major, and co-taught Introduction to Civic Studies.  In addition to grants and fellowships for his research, he has received several grants for civic education and has led a number of civics seminars for K-12 teachers, early-career scholars, and community college faculty.

Jennifer oversees all programming, operations, events, and staffing at the Open Academy. For the last eight years she has worked as Assistant Director of the Salvatori Center, where she successfully cultivated a robust and collaborative environment for CMC students. She remains committed to inspiring students to brainstorm new learning opportunities, events, and campus engagement, while encouraging them to utilize and enhance their strengths.  She holds a Master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Nonprofit Organizations and is currently in her final year of law school. Jennifer has been a member of the CMC community for fifteen years.

Piyush Prakash is a senior public policy professional with over 12 years of experience working with city, state, and federal governments in India and the U.S. At the Open Academy, he leads the research and evaluation efforts for constructive dialogue initiatives. He teaches LEAD 10: Foundations of Leadership at CMC. Previously, he served as a Senior Research Officer/Under-Secretary at the Government of India's federal public policy think tank, contributing to significant initiatives such as India’s National Education Policy 2020.

Alejandro serves as the Program Coordinator for The Open Academy and Dreier Roundtable at Claremont McKenna College. In this role, he fosters dialogue and civic leadership among students by organizing events, supporting student initiatives, and collaborating with departments, institutes, and student groups across campus.  A graduate of CMC with a degree in Philosophy and Public Affairs, Alejandro previously served as an Open Academy Post-Baccalaureate Fellow and has been part of the CMC community for nine years—as both a student and now an employee.

Lia is a junior at Claremont McKenna College pursuing a dual concentration in Government and Economics. Her studies center on the relationship between law, markets, and politics. She participated in Stanford’s Hoover Institution summer policy program, which brings together students and policymakers to examine U.S. policy, economics, and national security. She also conducted independent research in southern Italy on Cicero and Machiavelli’s conceptions of governance. At the Open Academy, Lia works program design and communications that foster open inquiry across the Claremont community. She is committed to cultivating a campus culture where dialogue, curiosity, and principled disagreement strengthen democratic citizenship.

Dhriti is a junior at Claremont McKenna College studying Government. Between disagreeing at Open Academy dinner tables and debating political theory at the Hudson Institute's summer fellowship, she enjoys candid, intellectually diverse settings. Elsewhere on campus, she is working to revise the consortium's demonstration policy and has researched the consortium’s activism history as a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Campus Scholar. She is excited to spend another year preserving CMC's distinct culture of free expression as an Open Academy Fellow.

Zayn is a senior at Claremont McKenna College dual majoring in Philosophy, Politics, Economics (PPE) and Government. He is excited to contribute to and develop campus discourse on topics related to constitutionalism and legal theory, utilizing his experience as a researcher and Salvatori Center research assistant. He hopes to impress on the student body the relevance of these topics to contemporary political issues.

Violet is a junior at Claremont McKenna College dual majoring in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics (PPE) and Government. She is an editor at the CMC Forum, President of the CMC Philosophy Club, and a 2025-26 Athenaeum Fellow. In her free time, she enjoys writing, snowboarding, hiking, and spending time with friends. Through the Open Academy, Violet hopes to foster constructive dialogue on difficult and pressing issues of our time. She is particularly excited to focus on the humanities and the role that art and creativity play in the evolving modern world.

Deborah is a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College studying Public Policy and Data Science. She has interned at the California Assembly and researches state policy at the Rose Institute. She joined the Open Academy to practice having difficult conversations and to highlight the importance of dialogue in creating progress. Through her work in policy, she has seen the value of sharing perspectives and hopes to encourage others to do the same.

Gabe is a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College majoring in Philosophy and Public Policy. He is a CARE Fellow, CLSA Mentor, and Event Coordinator for !Mi Gente¡ In his free time he enjoys listening to music, reading, playing video games, and learning new things. He is very excited to collaborate with the Open Academy this year. Through the OA, he hopes to promote dialogue as a means of building community and continue fostering diversity of opinion on campus!