'Lifelong student,' Bowdoin College grad to work for State Department
May 25—Bowdoin College graduate Khalil Kilani navigated international systems as an Iraqi refugee as a young child. Now, he hopes to help families like his by shaping humanitarian policy and diplomacy in the U.S. Department of State.
"My family lived through that system, and going through that and seeing how it's successful, and how it can work for people, and [we've been] interacting with international organizations since we were young," said Kilani, who was born in Jordan but resettled in Portland in 2009.
Kilani, a Bowdoin computer science major and government minor, received the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship, which will fund him through two years of graduate school at Columbia University and culminate in a placement at the State Department.
Kilani's undergraduate experience took him to Peru, Denmark and Washington, D.C., and down to Arizona to learn about the Mexico-U.S. border.
Kilani said hands-on programs, like Bowdoin's Public Service in Washington trips and a summer internship at the State Department, further solidified his interest in diplomacy.
"Being able to work with diplomats and combine my passion for service work, for learning languages, for meeting new people — it was really the intersection of all of that," Kilani said.
Kilani has worked with the McKeen Center for the Common Good throughout his time in college and traveled to Peru in 2022 with the program. There, he taught English, helped renovate a school for disadvantaged children and built a fundraising campaign to help residents sell alpaca wool.
His love for language has also served him well as an alumni ambassador at the Portland-based youth writing organization, The Telling Room, which he also attended as a high school student.
Wendy Van Damme, associate director for public service at the McKeen Center, said Kilani's "good judgement, thoughtful guidance and commitment to excellence" have strengthened the center's programs and "inspired many students to explore public service."
"Khalil served as a summer intern at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the office that years ago supported his own family's journey," Van Damme said. "He is pursuing a career in diplomacy, which will use his skills as much as his kindness. Through everything he does, Khalil reminds us that a life in service to others is both possible and powerful."
Batool Khattab, Bowdoin Arabic professor, noted that Kilani also won the college's Prize for Excellence in Arabic this year.
"I have known Khalil since his first year at Bowdoin, when he enrolled in my Elementary Arabic class," Khattab said. "Over the years, I've seen him grow into a focused and capable young man, ready to take on opportunities beyond college. Khalil has shown consistent dedication to both his academic work and his extracurricular responsibilities."
At Columbia, Kilani will earn his master's of international affairs with a focus on international security and diplomacy. Traveling the world and learning about new cultures for a living is like staying in school forever, Kilani said.
"I love being a lifelong student," Kilani said.
Kilani was set to graduate along with a class of 520 students on May 24. Commencement took place on the Main Quad at Bowdoin. This year's honorary degree recipients were Michele Cyr, the former chairperson of the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees and Jeremy Frey, a Passamaquoddy basket weaver.
Presenting the commencement addresses were poet and 2025 graduate Weatherspoon — the recipient of the Goodwin Commencement Prize — and graduate Carina Lim-Huang, who won the Class of 1868 Prize for her speech.
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