Two Kensington Natives are Haverford Honors Grads

Kensington natives Rachel Sarah Oliner and Elias Tousley are recent honors grads of renowned Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. They are among 299 members of the leading liberal art college's Class of 2011, which held commencement ceremonies on May 15.

Oliner is graduate of Charles E. Smith Jewis Day School in Rockville and the daughter of Stephen and Joyce Oliner of Kensington. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Haverford, with a minor in History of Art from nearby Bryn Mawr College (which has agreement with Haverford allowing students to take courses at both schools). Oliner’s Senior thesis, which Haverford graduates also must complete, is titled The Neurological Effects of Electronic Music and Ecstasy Use. 

Oliner has been involved in a variety of campus activities, including the co-founder, editor, and treasurer of Feathers and Fur, the Haverford College fashion magazine, a writer for the Bi-College News, and a member of the Haverford College Administrative Advisory Committee. As an Art History Intern, Oliner helped to develop a new course about art and war. She also worked as a Research Assistant at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Developmental Psychology Lab at Bryn Mawr College. 


Tousley, a graduate of Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, is the son of Elizabeth and Michael Tousley. Tousley’s Senior Thesis, is titled Mobbing: A Study in Flocking and Pursuit. Tousley is the recipient of the 2011 Louis B. Green Prize in Physics for his academic achievements in the field of Physics.

While studying at Haverford, Tousley also excelled in athletics. He ran for the Men’s Varsity Cross Country and Varsity Track and Field teams, was a member of the 2010 NCAA Division III National Champion Men’s Cross Country team as well as being named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll all three years he was eligibile. While working as a Research Assistant for the Haverford Physics Department, Tousley tracked flying birds through VisualPython programs.

Haverford is located just outside of Philadelphia. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest higher education institution in North America with Quaker roots. Its student population is only 1,200. The campus itself is also nationally recognized as an arboretum.