Nominate Students and Community Partners Today for the Public Service Leadership Awards

2020 PSLA award winners Isabella N. Rivera ’22 and Ariana Rios ’21 pictured with the Womxn of Color (WOC) ’20 Board at the 2020 Black Pearl Ball, one of the many events the former PSLA winners were recognized for developing.

The Center for Community Engagement will celebrate the 28th Annual Patrick J. Durkin, Class of 1979, Public Service Leadership Awards on April 28, 2021, from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Do you know a student leader who makes a positive impact on campus or within the community through volunteering, activism, or advocacy? If so, please nominate them today for a Public Service Leadership Award. The PSLAs are a great way to appreciate Middlebury College students who have contributed meaningfully to our community, and for these exceptional leaders to be recognized for their hard work. We also have a nomination category for meaningful student/community partner relationships. 

The PSLAs are awarded to at least nine students who are working to address poverty, immigration, food insecurity, among other issues, in the community of Addison County and beyond. An outstanding community partnership also gets recognized with an award. An example of award winners from last year’s 2020 PSLAs were Ariana Rios ’21 and Isabella N. Rivera ’22. They were recognized for their work together as co-presidents of the organization Womxn of Color. They collaborated across the campus community, organizing the semi-annual art show, WOC mixers with other groups such as Distinguished Men of Color, faculty of color, and Feminist Action at Middlebury, and also coordinated the successful Black Pearl Ball in January – which is the only regular public celebration of womxn of color on campus. As part of the award, thanks to the generosity of the Durkin family, the awardees were able to donate MALIKAH, a global grassroots movement that connects a network of active and engaged women leaders. Isabella N. Rivera ’22, decided to donate to this organization “because their mission greatly resonated with me and was an inspiration while I was co-president of WOC”. This year’s award winners will also be able to make a donation to the non-profit of their choosing.

Nominate students for this year’s awards at go.middlebury.edu/psla]go/psla before the deadline Wednesday, April 7th at 11:59 PM. RSVP for the event using the same link. Questions? Please contact Kailee Brickner-McDonald at kbricknermcdonald@middlebury.edu.

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