Here’s a look at the eight women undergraduates at the University of Rochester who will be honored at the University’s annual Susan B. Anthony Legacy Awards. The celebration will take place on Saturday, February 4, at 11 a.m. in the ballroom of the Memorial Art Gallery.
Seyvion Scott ’19
Dean Ruth A. Merrill Award
Sponsored by the “City Girls” of the Class of 1960, the Dean Ruth A. Merrill Award recognizes an undergraduate woman “who has grown up in the Greater Rochester area, is a strong advocate for the region, and participates in University and community activities that promote the overall well-being of Rochester residents.”
Scott, an African and African-American studies major from Rochester, is the leader of the Frederick Douglass Leadership House’s Ella Baker Project Engagement: Promoting Community Engagement. She’s been involved in maintaining a local children’s garden and with “Rock the Vote Rochester,” a project to register citizens to vote in the November elections. She’s also the webmaster for the Black Students Union.
A graduate of the City of Rochester’s School of the Arts, Scott is a singer who enjoys neo-soul, rap, and rock music.
Her career goal is to work in education and encourage teens to pursue higher education. Her ultimate life goal, she says, is to write her memoirs and “alleviate the illusion that urban upward mobility isn’t possible.”
Miriam Kohn ’17 and Giovanna Braganza ‘17
Fannie Bigelow Prize
The Fannie Bigelow Prize, awarded to upperclasswomen who “form and express fearlessly opinions on vital topics,” goes to two women this year.
Kohn, a linguistics major from Portland, Oregon, is president of the Debate Union, the University’s debating team. She’s also a speaking fellow—a peer tutor in the College’s Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program who provides feedback to fellow undergraduates on speeches and presentations.
Kohn is working on multiple research projects. She’s writing an honors thesis in linguistics looking at gender and speech patterns in competitive British Parliamentary debate; and she’s a research assistant at the Laboratory of Interpersonal Violence and Victimization at the Medical Center.
Braganza, a biology major from Queens, New York, is president of GlobeMed, a student organization which strives for global health equity. She says her work with GlobeMed has pushed her “to think and speak critically about contemporary world problems such as racism, social activism, health inequity, and LGBTQIA rights.”
Braganza plans to continue her education through an M.D./master’s in public health program with the overall goal of empowering marginalized patients with more choice over their health.
Laura Cowie-Haskell ’18
Jane R. Plitt Award
The Jane R. Plitt Award honors a part-time or full-time undergraduate woman “who displays exceptional leadership and community service on behalf of women.”
Cowie-Haskell, a Boston native and an anthropology major, is studying abroad this semester in Morocco. She’s served on the executive boards of College Feminists and Students for a Democratic Society, and was one of the founders of the University’s She’s The First chapter, which raises funds to educate girls in underdeveloped nations.
In spring 2016, Cowie-Haskell directed the College’s annual production of The Vagina Monologues, which raised $3,400 for a local shelter for women and children. That summer, she was an urban fellow—part of a program of the University’s Rochester Center for Community Leadership—where she worked at a summer school in the city that promotes cultural empowerment.
After graduation, she plans to study education policy or a social science, and perform service work at home and abroad.
Jamie Rudd ’17
Sue S. Stewart Award
The Sue S. Stewart Award is presented to a senior undergraduate woman “whose life at the University has been distinguished by a commitment to justice, equality, and community service relating to diversity and inclusion.”
Rudd, an anthropology and English double major from Madras, Oregon, has been deeply involved with the University’s Rochester Center for Community Leadership—first as an urban fellow in summer 2015, then as urban fellows program coordinator last summer. She was also the 2016 Wilson Day coordinator and is the community service chair for Students Helping Honduras.
Rudd studied development and social justice in Thailand in fall 2015, and spent this past fall as an intern at the local nonprofit Writers & Books, where she helped develop satellite youth programs that will serve several low-income neighborhoods in the city.
After graduation, she plans to join AmeriCorps and pursue a career in community development.
Jing Wang ‘17 (T5)
Susan B. Anthony Prize
The Susan B. Anthony Prize is awarded by the Women’s Club of the University of Rochester to a senior enrolled in a five-year program (such as the Take Five Scholars or Kaufmann Entrepreneurial Year programs) “for her outstanding participation and leadership in extracurricular activities and academic achievement.”
Wang, a neuroscience major from Qingdao, China, is a Take Five Scholar spending a fifth, tuition-free year in the College to pursue a course program on diversity in American culture, history, and music.
She’s been a tutor and workshop leader, a Friends of Strong and hospice volunteer, and a cellist in the University’s symphony orchestra. She’s serving her second year as president of the University’s chapter of the Golden Key international honor society, where she’s helped organize community service programs including one that brings musicians to local nursing homes to perform for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Wang, who was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa, looks forward to beginning medical school after her Take Five year is complete.
Meghan Patrick ’18 and Yareni Sime ‘18
Susan B. Anthony Scholarship
Sponsored by the Women’s Club of Rochester, the Susan B. Anthony Scholarship is awarded to two juniors “who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment in co-curricular activities and academic achievement.”
Patrick, a mechanical engineering major from Assonet, Massachusetts, has served for two years as president of the University’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. She’s also involved in multiple community service projects as part of the executive board of Alpha Phi Omega; and is active in the University’s Off Broadway, On Campus, or BROC, musical theater club.
Patrick is studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, this semester. She plans to pursue a career in environmental engineering.
Sime is a double major in psychology and health, behavior, and society from Brooklyn, New York. A scholar in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, she’s vice president of the Spanish and Latino Students’ Association, or SALSA, and works as a trainer for Students Wanting Alcohol Responsibly Monitored, or SWARM. Last summer, she carried out a research project on infant feeding practices among Hispanic/Latino women in Monroe County, New York.
Sime is studying in London this semester, and plans a career in maternal and child health.
Community, civil rights leader to be awarded Frederick Douglass Medal
Constance (Connie) Mitchell, one of Rochester history’s most influential social, civic, political and industrial activists, is being recognized for outstanding civic engagement at this year’s Susan B. Anthony Legacy Awards Celebration brunch on Feb. 4.
