Office of the President, The University of Pennsylvania April 17, 2010
Janet Lee Stevens was a doctoral student of Arabic literature in the Department of Oriental Studies (now the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations) who became devoted to the language and culture of the Arab world. She expressed her affection by setting for herself the highest critical standards of learning and by her deep commitment to promoting tolerance and understanding of the peoples whose literature and civilization she grew to love. Janet spent the last few years of her life immersing herself in the region, conducting important scholarly research, writing honestly about events she observed, arguing for compassion in human affairs and tolerance of ideas in the realm of the intellect. She took great personal risks in her constant efforts to mitigate the harsher qualities of life she encountered. On April 17, 1983, on the eve of returning to Penn to complete and defend her thesis, Janet, while interviewing US embassy staff about the use of American aid in Lebanon, was killed in the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut. Her family, professors, fellow graduate students, and many friends created this award, The Janet Lee Stevens Memorial Scholarship, to honor her memory and spirit.
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