Arya Gartside-Vats '30

Arya Gartside-Vats is a first-year in Holworthy from New York City, NY, planning to concentrate in Government and Philosophy. Her interest in intellectual vitality and how communities handle genuine disagreement grew out of two cross-party internships in the UK House of Commons, where she authored a memo on human rights abuses in Balochistan that was circulated to all MPs for Labour MP John McDonnell, a policy brief on the housing of asylum seekers in UK hotels for Conservative Shadow Minister Matt Vickers, and analyzed polling data from over 13,000 respondents. She has also worked with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Zagreb, Croatia, on refugee integration, and wrote an essay on philoxenia, the ancient Greek practice of hospitality to the stranger, that her high school later adopted as a stated community value.

On campus, Arya is excited to serve on the Intellectual Vitality Student Advisory Board and was selected for the Institute of Politics' Global Affairs Program. In July 2026, she was a Visiting Scholar at UNITAR in Geneva, where she observed multilateral sessions and worked with Division Director Alex Mejia under the mentorship of Nikhil Seth, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General. For a decade, she has run a self-directed microlending portfolio through LendwithCare, funding over 40 loans across 15 countries, and she has volunteered for three years at Little Britches Therapeutic Riding, an equine therapy program for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Outside of policy work, Arya is a black belt martial artist, a trained Bollywood dancer, and a professional actor, with credits including Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She loves walking, or rather being walked, by her dogs Sansa, a Goldendoodle, and Benjen, a Tibetan Mastiff.