Established by Celina Karp Biniaz ’52, this Grinnell College award is to honor her courageously hopeful life and legacy. The award is established with two key intentions: 1) To aid students like her who had to overcome obstacles to obtain their education; and 2) To recognize and support such students who wish to pursue careers teaching young people OR working for organizations or governmental entities whose core mission focuses on the education and welfare of young people.
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Eligibility: Open only to graduating seniors with the above intentions as established by the donor. December 2023 and May 2024 graduates are eligible, with the importance of the recipient attending the May commencement baccalaureate ceremony.
Criteria: In order to apply for the Celina Karp Biniaz Model of Resilience Award, you must meet the following criteria:
- A graduating senior (December 2023 or May 2024) at Grinnell College;
- Has demonstrated academic excellence;
- Intends to pursue an elementary or secondary teaching career post-graduation or other work devoted to the advancement of the education and welfare of young people; and
- Like the prize’s namesake, has a compelling life story with a demonstrated desire to give back and work for the common good. Examples could include but are not limited to—a student who comes from a disadvantaged background, a student who immigrated (or whose parents immigrated) to this country under difficult circumstances, a student who is in the first generation in their family to attend college, a student who grew up in the foster care system, or a student who otherwise overcame obstacles (social, economic, or physical) in pursuit of their education.
Award amount for 2024: $7,600.00
Application deadline: Tuesday, March 12, 2024 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Campus Application Checklist: Karp Biniaz Application Checklist, Spring 2024 [Grinnell login required]
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Personal Statement Advice
The Karp Biniaz Award personal statement captures your story related to the donor’s intentions and eligibility outlined above. The best essays tend to reflect on the author’s backgrounds, interests, and experiences; explain motivations; identify concrete goals; and articulate a clear pathway towards a career. The personal statement must be double-spaced with a maximum of three pages and a minimum .7 margins. The prompt, “Describe the origins of your interest and plan to pursue a career teaching at the elementary or secondary level or a career devoted to the advancement of the education and welfare of young people. Include your own life story of obtaining your education and demonstrated desire to give back and work for the common good.”
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About Celina Karp Biniaz
Celina Karp Biniaz, the youngest of Oskar Schindler’s Jews, has led an incredibly inspiring life of resilience and triumph. From Krakow to Auschwitz to Grinnell and far beyond, Celina’s beautiful legacy is one of perseverance, courage, and hope.
Born Celina Karp in Poland in 1931, she lived a relatively comfortable life with her parents until Germany attacked in 1939. The Nazi occupation began and Celina’s education was halted after 2nd grade. Conscripted into labor, then transferred to the Plaszow labor camp, she witnessed horror after horror, eventually coming face to face with Dr. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz at the age of 13. Through the heroic efforts of Oskar Schindler, she and her parents wound up working in his factory in Czechoslovakia where they were eventually liberated by the Russian army in 1945.
After liberation, Celina’s family waited two years for visas to join family members in the United States. Having had no formal education from grades 3-11, Celina studied independently during that time to catch up on her missed schooling.
When Celina finally arrived in Des Moines, Iowa at the age of 16, she attended North High School. She was ecstatic to be back in school and has valued education dearly her entire life.
She attended Grinnell College, majoring in philosophy. “I loved the atmosphere of Grinnell,” she says. “It renewed my life…Grinnell was just wonderful to me.” She notes that the study of philosophy helped her to begin to process some of her horrific life experiences. She then attended Columbia University in New York, earning a master’s degree in education.
In 1963, Celina began teaching, motivated by a strong desire to give back and help others. She was a pioneer in the special education field, helping to establish a program of individualized instruction for elementary school students with learning difficulties. Meeting with students in a special setting outside their regular classroom called the “Learning Lab,” Celina worked to bring them up to grade level in core subjects, helping them to achieve confidence in their own abilities.
After a 27-year career as a teacher, Celina retired and not long thereafter moved to California to be near her family and grandchildren. Until the release of the highly acclaimed film Schindler’s List in 1993, she had avoided speaking about her wartime experience. She credits the film with enabling her to find her voice and share her personal experiences of the Holocaust.
Celina says the Holocaust taught her that “Evil can happen anywhere, with any human being, if you give it a chance.” Despite incredible suffering and trauma, she courageously advises, “Don’t hate. Try to see the good in people. Nobody is better than anyone else.”
Celina returned to Grinnell College in 2018 to give the commencement address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. She has traveled the globe, appealing for a rejection of hate, sharing her incredible life experiences and her fervent hope for humanity.
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The Celina Karp Biniaz Model of Resilience Award – Recipients since 2022
- Romeo K. Garcia,class of 2023
- Sarah Beisner, class of 2022