Student Award in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

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Student Award in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

An award, in the amount of $4,000, will be given annually to a woman university or college student * who advances equity, diversity and inclusion within and/or outside their institution through outstanding dedication and excellence or community outreach and activism.

Eligibility

Students should demonstrate an exceptional commitment to and engagement with a particular issue of social justice, community, and/or community organization.  Such community activism can take place on or off campus. Regions are defined as follows, and eligibility shall rotate among them:

  • Western Provinces (2028)
  • Quebec (2025) 
  • Atlantic Provinces (2026)
  • Ontario (2027)  

Criteria

1. Strong academic performance.

2. Evidence of leadership with respect to equity, diversity and inclusion, through such activities as:

  • involvement in student organizations
  • participation on committees (student committees and university committees)
  • organization of special events, conferences, etc.
  • involvement in advocacy groups
  • involvement in volunteer organizations, within the campus setting and/or in the general community.

Procedures

Each institution in the designated region may nominate one person for the award. The institution shall also be responsible for the appointment of a nominating committee for the award and for providing the Selection Committee with all necessary documentation in support of the nomination, including:

  • biographical data**
  • curriculum vitae
  • academic records
  • three letters of reference or endorsement of the candidate.

The deadline for submission of nominations:  January 31, 2025.

The Selection Committee shall be the elected members of the Executive Committee (or its delegates), excluding those from the region from which the award recipients will be selected.

Nominations for the 2025 competition (Quebec) must be sent via electronic mail to:

SWAAC President
Dr. Donna Kotsopoulos
Western University
Email to: swaacadmin@uwo.ca

*Diversity Statement

​SWAAC is committed to prioritizing equity in this application process. We especially encourage applications/nominations from students who identify as LGBTQ+, racialized, Indigenous and/or students with disabilities to apply for this award.

If you have any questions about the award or require further information please contact Megha Ajmani, SWAAC Registrar and Treasurer at swaacadmin@uwo.ca

**biographical information usually includes information about former and current studies,  areas of interest, research, publications, other awards, interests outside the university, and community or volunteer work.  It’s usually in a narrative form, about 1-2 pages in length, and is an opportunity for the nominee to tell the adjudication committee some things about herself, and to explain at greater length her background/interests/passions/ambitions/volunteer work.




Prix étudiante en matière d'égalité, de diversité et d'inclusion

Admissibilité

Une bourse d’un montant de 4000 $ sera versée annuellement à une femme étudiante universitaire ou collégiale* qui avance l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion à l’intérieur et / ou à l’extérieur de son établissement grâce à un dévouement et à une excellence remarquables ou à des activités de sensibilisation et d’activisme communautaires.

L’étudiante devrait démontrer un engagement à et engagement exceptionnel avec un problème particulier de justice sociale, de communauté et / ou d’organisation communautaire. Un tel activisme communautaire peut avoir lieu sur ou hors campus. Les régions sont définies comme suit, et l’éligibilité doit pivoter entre elles:

Provinces de l’Ouest (2028)
Québec (2025)
Provinces de l’Atlantique (2026)
Ontario (2027) ​

Critères

Forte performance académique.
Preuve de leadership en matière d’équité, de diversité et d’inclusion, à travers des activités telles que:

• participation aux organisations étudiantes
• participation aux comités (comités d’étudiants et comités universitaires)
• organisation d’événements spéciaux, conférences, etc.
• participation à des groupes de défense des droits
• participation à des organismes bénévoles, dans le cadre du campus et / ou dans la communauté générale.

Procédures

​Chaque université dans la région désignée peut sélectionner, par leur doyen des études de cycles supérieurs ou son/sa délégué(e), une personne pour ce prix. Le doyen doit aussi être responsable de l’affectation d’un comité de nomination ainsi que de fournir au comité de sélection toute documentation nécessaire supportant une nomination, incluant:

Information biographique*
Curriculum vitae
Dossier académique
Trois lettres de recommandation

Le Comité de sélection sera le membre élu du Comité exécutif (ou ses délégués), à l’exception de ceux de la région à partir desquels les récipiendaires seront sélectionnés.

Date limite pour appliquer: le 31 janvier 2025

Les candidatures pour la compétition de 2025 (Québec) doivent être envoyées par courrier électronique à:

SWAAC Présidente
Dr. Donna Kotsopoulos
Western University
swaacadmin@uwo.ca

*Déclaration de diversité

SWAAC s’engage à accorder la priorité à l’équité dans ce processus de demande. Nous encourageons particulièrement les candidatures / nominations d’étudiants qui s’identifient comme LGBTQ +, racialisés, indigènes et / ou étudiants handicapés à postuler pour ce prix.

Si vous avez des questions au sujet de la récompense ou si vous avez besoin d’autres informations, veuillez contacter Megha Ajmani, la registraire et le trésorier du SWAAC à majmani2@uwo.ca

**l’information biographique comprend généralement des informations sur les études antérieures et actuelles, les domaines d’intérêt, la recherche, les publications, d’autres récompenses, les intérêts en dehors de l’université et le travail communautaire ou bénévole. Il est habituellement d’une forme narrative, d’environ 1 à 2 pages, et une opportunité pour le candidat de dire au comité d’arbitrage certaines choses sur elle-même et d’expliquer plus en profondeur ses antécédents / intérêts / passions / ambitions / travail bénévole.

Recent Award Recipients

Pauline B. Lomami


Pauline B. Lomami (she/they, also known as Po B. K. Lomami) is an indisciplinary interventionist, a Belgian Congodescendant (DRC) based in Montréal-Tiohtià:ke-Mooniyang since fall 2017.   

She co-founded Harambec – Reviving the Black Women Collective with Marlihan Lopez and Jade Almeida in 2023, an organization that aims to defend the rights of Black women and non-binary Black people in the tradition of Black radical feminism. Harambec organizes events and workshops, works with archives and transmission, and offers services to the Black communities of Montreal such as Freedom School. Harambec also collaborates with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute of Concordia University for the Esmeralda Thornhill Black Feminist Speaker Series to acknowledge and celebrate Black feminist research, scholarship, and activism, consequently creating a bridge between academia and communities. 

Lomami is also a co-founder of DC – Art indisciplinaire, an artist-run center created by and for disabled and D/deaf artists in Montreal in 2022. DC sheds light on how the public funding bodies and art organizations’ expectations and projections can misrepresent and erase disabled and D/death artists. At DC, she works on the project Laisse-moi le temps (Give Me Time), a multi-faceted project by and for the disabled and D/deaf artistic communities at the intersection with other minority identities. She currently addresses the need to take the (crip) time for the specific issues, challenges, accomplishments, and experiences of Black disabled artists of Montreal.  

Her inclination to intervention initially emerged from urgency, strategy, and reclamation of space-time and was part of her activist and community work in Europe. Her artistic direction has expanded this practice for over ten years, cultivating intrusion, interference, and introspection. She continues to question individuals, institutions, and herself through affection, force, absurd, and quotidian. She uses performance art, installation art, photography, video art, sound art, creative writing, and technologies as critical tools to intervene through.  

She is an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) candidate in Studio Arts – Intermedia (Video, Performance, and Electronic Arts) at Concordia University and received SSHRC and FRQSC scholarships. She also holds a bachelor’s degree (2011) and a master’s degree (2014) in Business Engineering from the University of Namur, Belgium, and a graduate diploma (2022) in Communication Studies from Concordia University. However, she has not developed her interventionist practice in art and activism within an institutional learning context. 

1137 Western Rd, London Ontario N6G 1G7.




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