Making a Difference
Students make significant and lasting impacts on Brown. Each year, various offices and centers within and beyond the Division of Campus Life solicit nominations for awards to recognize and celebrate these efforts.
Student Awards
Making a Difference
About the Joslin Award
The Joslin Awards recognize a small group of seniors who have contributed in a very significant way to the quality of student life at Brown. Award winners generally demonstrate a wide breadth of involvement during their campus years as well as substantial depth in one or more areas. Through their leadership and involvement, they have not only enhanced their own liberal education, they have also provided services, programs and other opportunities for involvement to their peers, thus enhancing the learning environment for all students.
In the area of CHARACTER, the selection committee is interested not just in what a nominee has done, but the personal qualities and attributes that model the highest ideals of leadership, citizenship, and community. Please identify known INVOLVEMENTS, leadership positions, and noteworthy accomplishments in co-curricular activities (whether they be on or off campus). Please also address the nominee’s IMPACT on Brown (the student experience, community engagement, etc.). Aspects of impact that may aid in the committee’s evaluation include sustainability, breadth, or depth of their efforts.
Recipients will be honored at the Commencement and Reunion Weekend's Jin-Joslin-Joukowsky Award Ceremony held in the afternoon of the opening Friday of the weekend.
The Joslin Award is given in the name of Judge Alfred H. Joslin, a 1936 Brown graduate, a member of the Corporation from 1963-1985, and a member of the Board of Fellows. Because of this extraordinary service to the Brown community, his initial chairmanship of the Corporation Committee on Student Life, and his abiding concern for the interests and welfare of undergraduates, it is fitting that this award should be designated in his honor.
Nominations for the 2023 Joslin Awards are now open. The Joslins are awarded each year to a select group of seniors whose contributions to the quality of student life at Brown are truly exemplary. Joslin recipients represent the very best of Brown in the areas of character, involvement, and impact. Joslin Award nominations may be submitted by any member of the Brown community. Nominees must be college seniors anticipated to graduate in May 2023 or December 2023.
Submit a nomination for 2023
2022 Award Recipients
- Jamila Beesley ’22
- Christina Bonaparte ’22
- Amanda Cooper ’22
- Lijin Dai ’22
- Raelee Fourkiller ’22
- Jared Jones ’22
- Ashton Lam ’22
- Mia McKinney ’22
- David Onabanjo ’22
- Ciara Sing ’22
About the Graduate Student Contribution to Community Life Award
For doctoral and master's students who receive their degree in October 2022, February 2023 or May 2023.
This Award is given by the Division of Campus Life on behalf of the Corporation Committee on Campus Life and recognizes a select group of graduating doctoral and master’s students who have contributed in a very significant way to the sense of community at Brown. Award winners generally demonstrate both a breadth of engagement and sufficient depth to have had a substantial impact. Through their participation in the life of their peers and the broader Brown community, they have enhanced campus life and the experience of others. Through their service, teaching, research, advising, mentoring, and/or interpersonal interactions, recipients demonstrate their deep commitment to bettering the lives of others and reflect the highest ideals of citizenship and a life of engaged scholarship and practice.
This Award is one of several awards given by the University to graduate students in recognition of their excellence and contributions.
Nominations for the class of 2023 are now open. All members of the Brown community are invited to submit nominations. As the process is highly selective, successful nominations should provide a full picture of the nominee, including known ENGAGEMENTS (both formal and informal, within their program and department, across campus, and beyond Brown) and their IMPACT on their peers, Brown, and the lives of others, including sustainability of their efforts; their commitment to advising, mentoring, teaching, and/or supporting others; and/or the breadth or depth of their impact.
For any questions please email [email protected].
Note: If you are nominating a Master's student, you might also consider a nomination for the Masters's Award for Engaged Citizenship and Community Service
Submit a Nomination for 2023
2022 Award Recipients
- Maggie Unverzagt Goddard, Ph.D. American Studies
- N'Kosi Oates, Ph.D. Africana Studies
- Alastair Tulloch, Ph.D. Neuroscience
Learn more about current and past awards recipients
Nomination Process for the 2023 Award
Information will be released at a later date. If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Kimmell.
About the Award
Established in 2015 by a group of Brown alumnae and parents, in honor and celebration of Susan Friedman’s tireless efforts in the area of women’s leadership, the Award seeks to recognize a senior woman who best exemplifies the outstanding leadership that Susan seeks to promote. The inaugural Award was made in May 2016.
Susan Friedman conceived of the Brown Women’s Leadership Council and was appointed by then-President Ruth J. Simmons as the first chair of the Council in 2004. Through her creative vision, entrepreneurial spirit, and generous philanthropic support, the Council has developed into a vibrant and diverse community of women leaders, volunteers, mentors, and philanthropists at Brown.
Mentoring has been central to both Susan Friedman’s vision and the Women’s Leadership Council’s mission as a way to empower the next generation of women leaders. Susan has personally mentored Brown students and worked to institutionalize one-on-one mentoring for Brown female students with Brown alumnae through the Women’s Launch Pad.
Eligibility
This $2,500 prize is to be awarded to a woman college senior anticipated to graduate in May 2022 or December 2022 who:
- has worked to empower and promote women as leaders;
- has demonstrated a dedication to relationship building and/or mentorship as part of their leadership efforts; and
- has had a positive and tangible impact on groups, organizations and/or individuals, through their leadership efforts, on and/or off campus.
Past Recipients
Cartie Werthman (2021)
Kamren Gilbard (2020)
Ashley Bang (2019)
Gianna Jasinski (2018)
Fatima Husain (2017)
Katherine Caroline Sudol (2016)
About the Interfaith Leadership Awards
The Presidential James Manning Medal
The President James Manning Medal is awarded to a senior in the college whose pursuit of excellence in the study and practice of religion is exemplary. This award is given in honor of Brown's first president who exemplified the synthesis of intellectual precision and spiritual engagement. The academic study of religion enables students to become critical thinkers and move beyond personal piety into responsible leadership achieving a balance between the particularity of respective faith traditions and a sense of community and global responsibility.
The Interfaith Leadership Award
A generous award to the Brown University Chaplaincy from the Kapstein Foundation, administered through the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, makes possible the honoring of a senior in the college who has demonstrated interfaith leadership both on campus and beyond, within the confines of the academic year and/or during time away. This award will acknowledge the energy, insight, imagination, and service of a student in the realm of inter-religious community building and programming. The Interfaith Leadership Award honors the late Reverend Charles A. Baldwin, Chaplain of the University, 1958–1988.
The Levi Adams Citation
Inaugurated in 2001, the Levi Adams Citation honors a senior in the college for distinction and service in the leadership of a campus-based religious organization, project, or initiative. This award is given in honor of Dr. Levi Adams, whose retirement from Brown in 1994 concluded a distinguished career during which he served on Brown's faculty, as one of the Deans of the Medical School and Vice President of Government and Community Relations. His resilience, imagination and strength in his varied tasks were always ground in deep spiritual convictions. Empowered by Dr. Adam’s example this citation is made to honor such service.
Nominations for the 2023 Interfaith Leadership Awards are now open. Submit nominations by Monday, April 3, 2023, 11:59 PM. For questions, contact the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life. See nomination instructions and additional information.
Each spring the LGBTQ Center recognizes a graduating senior (May or December) who has positively affected lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning life during their undergraduate years at Brown. The LGBTQ Community Leadership Award, which is presented annually, includes a prize funded by the Brown LGBTQ Alumni Group TBGALA and the Brown Alumni Association.
The award recipient(s) will have accomplished one or more of the following:
- Improved campus climate and/or the undergraduate experience for LGBTQ community members.
- Fostered collaborations among the diverse facets of Brown's LGBTQ communities.
- Promoted communication and collaboration between Brown's LGBTQ communities and other non-LGBTQ communities on campus.
- Bridged the gap between LGBTQ communities at Brown and LGBTQ communities in the greater Providence area.
Recognizes an Asian/Asian American Brown graduating senior who has made significant contributions to the quality of life for Asian/Asian American Brown students and/or has made significant contributions to the development of the Asian/Asian American community at Brown.
See nomination instructions and additional information.
Sponsored by A4, MAC, & Alumni Relations.
The Yat K. Tow Prize recognizes an academically strong junior, graduating senior or graduate student who has completed community service and/or academic work in the area of international understanding. The Yat K. Tow Prize is coordinated by the Dean of the College.
The Student Activities Office Awards Program recognizes the accomplishments of student leadership in the context of recognized student organizations. Student leaders, advisors, organizations and events may be nominated. The awards include: Event of the Year, Co-curricular Program of the Year, Student Organization of the Year, Exceptional Student Leader, Exceptional New Leader or Group, Collaborative Effort, Community Action, Advisor of the Year.
Nominations throughout the year and the selection committee meets each April to choose recipients.
Each year, the BCSC accepts nominations to recognize student leaders for the Rising Star Award, Collaboration Award and Senior Leadership Award.
- The Rising Star Award is given to a first-year who has demonstrated notable initiative in engaging with projects and programs that promote social justice among communities of color at Brown.
- The Collaboration Award is given to sophomore or junior who has modeled collaboration and allyship by bridging the work of the Brown Center for Students of Color with different individuals, departments, or organizations on or off campus.
- The Senior Leadership Award is given to two graduating seniors who have exhibited exceptional leadership and commitment to the mission of the Brown Center for Students of Color by making lasting contributions to communities of color on campus.
See nomination instructions and additional information.
Student Accessibility Services (SAS, formerly SEAS) has four annual awards that recognize faculty, staff and students who exemplify the best in enhancing accessibility at Brown. We are seeking input from Campus Life staff on two of the awards which recognize staff and faculty.
- The SAS Sarah Volante Facilitator Award is given annually to a Brown University administrator or staff who has demonstrated exceptional awareness, inclusiveness, and support for students with disabilities.
- The SAS Access Ambassador Award is given annually to a Brown University faculty who has demonstrated exceptional awareness, inclusiveness, and support for students with disabilities.
- Two other awards recognize students registered with SAS. One, the SAS Catherine J. Axe Advocacy Award, focuses on advocacy for oneself or others. The other, the SAS Odyssey Award, recognizes a student who has taken a longer than typical path toward graduation but has persisted. The student awards are nominated by SAS staff.
We welcome nominations from the Brown community for these awards. If you would like to nominate a student, faculty or staff please fill out this Nomination Form by Friday, March 24th at 5 pm.