Philip Ballentine (’14)
Co-Chair
A native of Denver, Colorado, Philip Ballentine is a senior majoring in Chinese and International Relations. After joining ALLIES as a freshman, Philip served as ALLIES Curriculum Director and Logistics Director in his sophomore and junior years. In 2012-2013, he coordinated a team that put together the 2013 China-US Symposium, a three day academic conference on China-US relations. Over the past three years, he has interned in the Colorado State Senate, the Center for American Progress, and the United States Senate. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, spending time with his brothers in Theta Chi’s Epsilon Theta chapter at Tufts, watching South Korean horror films, and learning more about civil-military relations.
Becca Dewey (’15)
Co-Chair
Rebecca Dewey is a junior from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania majoring in International Relations and Environmental Studies. Last year, she served as the ALLIES Treasurer and the FIELDEX Co-Director for financials and logistics. When not attending to all things ALLIES, Rebecca works as a member of Tufts Technology Services, assisting in faculty development, website management, and communications. Last semester, she studied abroad in Santiago, Chile.
Manal Cheema (’17)
Freshman Representative
Manal Cheema is a first-year student pursuing studies in Political Science and Cognitive and Brain Sciences. On campus, she is involved with X-Effect, ALLIES, and Model UN, while also being a member of the Tufts JumboRaas team (an Indian dance group). As a result of her interest in government and law, Manal has interned with the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). Outside of academics, Manal enjoys illustration, playing video games (particularly Call of Duty: Black Ops 2) and reading about civilian-military affairs
Roland Gillah (’16)
Treasurer
Roland is a sophomore student at Tufts University from New York City studying International Relations, French, and Arabic. Although coming from a civilian background with no previous connection to the military, he has come to be involved quite deeply in the ALLIES program, first in the weekly discussions and secondly working on the FieldEx planning committee, in which he helped plan the annual conflict resolution simulation on a paintball field. Through ALLIES he also participated in SIMULEX, a simulation prepared by the Army War College for the Fletcher School, and also journeyed on the Joint Research Project to Turkey with a group of nine other students from Tufts and the US Military academies to research civil-military relations.
Kieran Green (’17)
Freshman Representative
Kieran is a Tufts undergraduate (class of 2017) who plans on majoring in International Relations with a concentration in International Security. As a debater for his Iowa City, Iowa high school team, Kieran developed an interest in US foreign policy and its relation to national security. As a result, Kieran was intrigued by the EPIIC topic for this year, given the Middle East’s history of being a flashpoint in international affairs. He is intrigued by the prospect of gaining a deeper insight into Middle Eastern politics and culture and the interplay between those factors and US involvement in the region. In addition to ALLIES, Kieran is participating as a member of this year’s EPIIC Colloquium. In his free time Kieran enjoys creating music mixes, watching cricket, and painting.
Eric Halliday (’16)
2014 Intellectual Roundtable Co-Director and Logistics Director
Eric is a sophomore with a double major in Political Science and Italian studies. From upstate New York, Eric pursues his passions in government and community service through his activities on campus. In addition to his work as the Programming Director of ALLIES, he is a Tisch Scholar, which enables his work with community organizations, and the Managing Director of the Tisch Institute of Political Citizenship, a non-partisan student group that promotes political interaction and discussion on campus. Whenever possible, he tries to encourage cross-campus dialogue and connect different student groups. That interest in making connections between organizations led to his involvement with ALLIES, as he believes that it is imperative that military and civilian college students develop working relationships before they begin their respective careers in public service.
Patrick Hamon (’16)
Patrick Hamon is a sophomore studying International Relations with a concentration in Security Studies. He hails from Stamford, Connecticut and has loved his time at Tufts so far. As a member of ALLIES, Patrick has had the opportunity to a member of the Joint Research Project, a collaborative research venture involving students from the service academies and Tufts, in the Republic of Turkey. His research focused on the relationship between the Turkish military and culture through the lenses of secondary education, press relations, and conscription. Patrick’s academic interest include post-conflict situations, fragile states, and issues of ethnic violence and he hopes to apply these one day toward work in the US government or for an international organization.
Brian Pollock (’16)
Brian Pollock is a sophomore from Westfield, New Jersey majoring in International Relations and German Studies. He has been an active member of ALLIES since beginning his career at Tufts, serving as a member of the FieldEx Planning Committee and sitting on the 2012-13 ALLIES Executive Board as Freshman Representative. He is excited to return this year to serve as the Director of Curriculum and Communications, following a summer interning at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In addition to his work with ALLIES, he is also an active member of the Tufts Entertainment Board, the Protestant Student Association, and the History Society. When he’s not on the Hill, you can usually find him on the slopes or exploring the many historical sites around Boston.