Volunteer, musician, athlete and peer leader — Leel Dias has done it all. Since joining Solebury four years ago, he’s made an impressive impact on school life and students nationwide. 

As president of the Solebury Environmental Action Club, he worked to divert Solebury’s waste from an incinerator, helped establish a rain garden to combat flooding, and conceived and planned two all-school Sustainability Weeks. Outside of school, he founded a bill to the NJ legislature banning incinerator subsidies and created a first-of-its-kind national waste database to aid overburdened communities.

“My Solebury experience has been defined by the dedicated and passionate faculty who taught me,” he shares. “Instead of viewing class as a chore or solely focusing on grades, my teachers managed to impart to me a genuine love of learning and passion for their subjects. Knowing that my teachers cared about my academic development as well as my personal well-being, I was also able to take a rigorous courseload and feel supported in managing my time and stress.” 

His efforts have earned him a place at Columbia University, which he will be attending in the fall of 2023. 

Leel Dias

Class of ‘23