Certainty has never come easily for Rolando Kattan Rubi.
Growing up in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, he was the sort of kid who peppered his friends, family, and teachers with probing questions and comments — about government, politics, art, and society. His brand of enthusiastic curiosity wasn’t always encouraged.
But there were exceptions, such as when Kattan Rubi visited the Yale campus as a high school student for a model United Nations conference. He was bowled over by the spirit of academic curiosity and civic engagement that pervaded the place.
“It fit me perfectly,” said Kattan Rubi, a graduating senior at Saybrook majoring in political science and comparative literature. “Then and now, Yale has allowed me to explore, and to pursue a broad, humanistic inquiry.”
In four years, he’s followed his heart into human rights activism, international peace advocacy, theatrical training, and the writings of Thomas Hobbes. He’s leaned into his curiosity, studied furiously, and remained open to possibilities in people and institutions.
Kattan Rubi served as president of the Yale International Relations Association, organized five new international conferences, and worked with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program, and the Organization of American States, an international coalition that promotes cooperation among member states within the Americas. He also spent a summer studying theater at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art.
Kattan Rubi served as president of the Yale International Relations Association, organized five new international conferences, and worked with the United Nations and the United Nations Development Program.
In 2023, he won a Davis Projects for Peace grant, which he used to work with NGOs in Honduras advocating for equity in menstruation and reproductive health issues. The work included helping to organize a conference that convened government, UN, and financial leaders to promote legislation that would exempt menstrual hygiene products from taxation.
“The capacity to stand your ground in a room of accomplished people — that’s something Yale does for you,” he said. “You learn how to raise your hand and be heard. When you step out into the real world, it becomes so much easier.”
In 2023, Kattan Rubi spoke at a Yale Model Government Europe (a program of the Yale International Relations Association) conference in Athens.
In August, Kattan Rubi will travel to China as a 2025-26 Schwarzman Scholar, embarking on a one-year master’s degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He said he intends to “travel and learn and nourish my world view.”
And after that? He wants to be part of the intellectual infrastructure that gave his curiosity room to grow — higher education.
“I’m interested in helping to shape the role of the university in society,” he said.
