Emma Yanai ’25 Wins a 2025 Marshall Scholarship

Emma Yanai ’25, Dwight Hall’s Editorial Writer, was awarded a Marshall Scholarship in December 2024. The prestigious scholarship funds “up to three years of graduate study in any academic topic at any university in the United Kingdom” and “was created by an act of the British Parliament in 1953 as ‘a living memorial’ for former U.S. Secretary of State General George Marshall and the assistance of the United States under the Marshall Plan” (Yale News).

Emma is among 36 recipients of the scholarship this year, and she joins several other Dwight Hall students and alumni in this honor, as over half of Yale’s Marshall Scholarship recipients in the past five years have held strong affiliations with Dwight Hall member groups or programs. Prior to Emma, Michael Chen ’23 was awarded the scholarship in 2023. Michael served as a member of the Dwight Hall Student Executive Committee, Urban Fellows, and YANA-Dwight Hall Summer Fellows during his time at Yale. 

Below, read Emma’s interview to learn how her experiences interviewing students, staff, and community partners for the Dwight Hall Alumni & Friends E-Newsletter and leading the Hall’s FOCUS on New Haven Camp Yale program contributed to the academic and public service interests she will explore with the Marshall Scholarship. 

What inspired you to apply for a Marshall Scholarship?

Throughout my time at Yale, I have explored the history and legacies of colonialism in America and across Asia. In doing so, I have realized the deep interconnectedness of these stories—European, American, and Japanese imperialisms overlap, and all of them must be studied to fully understand the state of modern Asia. The Marshall Scholarship gives me a great opportunity to study British imperialism within Britain and to be at the center of ongoing debates about what decolonizing means. Further, it introduced me to a wonderful group of fellow Marshall Scholars, whom I am excited to learn from over the next two years!

What public service and social justice experiences have been most impactful in your academic and professional journey thus far? Did these experiences play a role in your scholarship application?

Dwight Hall has been an integral part of my time at Yale. As a first-year, I participated in FOCUS on New Haven, where I learned about and experienced Dwight Hall’s commitment to social justice and service even before starting classes—FOCUS was among my very first memories of college! Since then, I have been involved with the Asian American Students Alliance, interned with the educational nonprofit Kizuna Across Culture, and led FOCUS as a Co-Director in 2023, two years from when I first participated in the program. Currently, I write for Dwight Hall’s Alumni & Friends E-Newsletter, and covering Dwight Hall has given me wonderful opportunities to learn from community leaders in Yale and New Haven!

What will be the focus of your graduate studies? Was this focus influenced by your Dwight Hall experiences? 

I will be getting my M.A. in Postcolonial Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Being a part of Dwight Hall has taught me the importance of understanding how histories of exploitation shape our present and helped me recognize my power as an individual to effect meaningful and positive change. At its core, Dwight Hall promotes a deep care for other people, and I am continually inspired by the dedication of the Dwight Hall community.

How do you envision making public service a part of your personal or professional life after you finish your studies?

While I am not entirely sure what I want to do after my graduate studies, I hope to make public service central to my life. Whether I become a teacher, an author, or a museum curator, I aim to uplift currently untold histories and to secure a more equitable future.

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Emma’s scholarship award reflects the intended impact of the Grow pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, which develops students’ intellectual, moral, civic, and creative capacities to the fullest with experiential learning, internships, fellowships, mentorships, and trainings. As a leader of a Dwight Hall institutional program and a Dwight Hall student employee, Emma has deepened her commitment to advancing service and justice and solidified her postgraduate trajectory in academia.