The UO Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence have announced the 2013-14 recipients of the Jewel Hairston Bell Scholarship, the Robert J. Erickson Kaiser Permanente Scholarship and the Diversity Excellence Scholars Abroad Scholarship.
The Jewel Hairston Bell Scholarship is legacy to a former UO employee whose life and work embraced and promoted the value of cultural and ethnic diversity. Jewel Hairston Bell advocated for cultural and ethnic diversity in higher education, and particularly at the UO. The $4,000 award, which recognizes outstanding students of color whose presence and performance embrace and enhance those values, will go to Diana Salazar and Sarah Hsu.
Salazar is on track to start her senior year. Her focus is on ethnic studies and planning, public policy and management, with an emphasis on radical grassroots organizing and social public policy.
She works as a director at the Multicultural Center and recently organized a successful “Social Justice, Real Justice” conference. She was also profiled by the Daily Emerald as “One of the 25 Ducks who will change the world.”
Salazar plans to become a community organizer and eventually go to graduate school. Her family is originally from the Mixteca region in Oaxaca and has experienced many injustices.
Hsu is currently a junior with a digital arts major and communication studies minor. She grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Portland in 2004. She is a program coordinator with IMPACT (Intercultural Mentoring Program Advancing Community Ties) and an office assistant at the registrar’s office.
Hsu is also a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed national service fraternity.
The Robert J. Erickson Kaiser Permanente Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship intended to enhance the number of underrepresented populations in higher education. Awardees receive up to $5,400 per year to cover tuition, board and/or books. The scholarship was created in 1997 as an endowment from Erickson, in partnership with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
New recipients Leah Barrera and Baredu Wotcha, and continuing scholars Jessica Brown and Lauren Wilson will receive Erickson scholarships for the coming academic year.
Barrera is an incoming freshman from North Eugene High School who has been active in her community and is preparing to major in education and ethnic studies.
Wotcha is an incoming freshman from Portland's Madison High School. She will begin her pre-med at the UO and plans to continue on to medical school.
Brown, a graduate of Eugene's Willamette High School, earned a continuation of her award by maintaining an excellent scholastic record in the UO’s Department of Political Science.
Wilson – a graduate of Willow Canyon High School in Surprise, Ariz. – is majoring in economics with a minor in music and dance. She received the continuing award for moving closer to her academic goals.
Diversity Excellence Scholars Abroad Scholarship (DESA) is in its second year. The scholarship's purpose is to support underrepresented students who would like to study abroad and represent the UO as global ambassadors. After completion of their study abroad, the winners are expected to serve as on-campus ambassadors, inspiring and encouraging others to consider study abroad.
The latest DESA recipient is Rebecca Rodas, who is pursuing a major in family and human services and a minor in ethnic studies. She will receive $1,750 for the year and will study in Oviedo, Spain.
Rodas plans to work in the criminal justice system while maintaining involvement with the Latino community. She enjoys being active, photography and anything artistic.
Last year's inaugural winner of the DESA scholarship is Niria Garcia, who is pursuing a double major in environmental studies and Latin American studies. She received $750 for a term and her study abroad destination was Brazil.
Garcia is a co-director of the Raza Unida Youth Conference, which is dedicated to outreach, support and empowering high school students of color to pursue a college education.
- from the UO Office of Equity and Inclusion