Biosah and Lawal are involved in promoting discussions regarding diversity as members of the Choate Diversity Student Association.
Long active in encouraging and accepting diversity on Choate’s campus, Uzo Biosah ’16 and Tomi Lawal ’16 were awarded the 2016 Princeton Prize in Race Relations on March 2. One or two students from each of the twenty-six eligible regional areas won the $1,000 cash prize along with an invitation to Princeton’s annual symposium on race.
According to Princeton University, the goal of the award itself is to “promote harmony, understanding, and respect among people of different races by identifying and recognizing high school age students whose efforts have had a significant, positive effect on race relations in their schools or communities.”
Biosah and Lawal are active in many different race and diversity related clubs and activities on campus. They helped create and remain active participants in the Choate Diversity Student Association (CDSA). In addition, they have been part of the Choate Diversity Day planning committee since it was founded their sophomore year.
According to Biosah, “I think a large reason why I won had to do with my involvement in planning and facilitating Diversity Day, but I talked about a lot more than that in my application. I’m vice president of CALSA (Choate Afro-Latino Student Alliance), and I talked about my engagement with poetry on campus.”
Biosah added, “I help run a lot of different events for students on campus. In the past they have had to do with issues of systemic oppression, institutionalized racism, and police brutality — a lot of things that students on campus and across the country may have to confront. Making Choate students aware of these issues was probably one of the reasons why I was chosen.”
Elaborating on their role in Diversity Day, Lawal commented, “We made a lot of changes to Diversity Day: the outreach of people we were able to get, the structure of the day, and how we structured the conversations to be more engaging and for students to pick up on all aspects of diversity — race and ethnicity included.”
Lawal also thought being Student Body President was a factor in his winning. He said, “The last time we had a black student body president was in 2005, with Queenette Karikari, who was on the Diversity Day panel last year. I can’t remember the last time we had a black male president. Just because the school started as an all boys’ school for white guys, it doesn’t mean that they’re the only people who can thrive here and do good work here.”
Two years ago Ryan Shepard ’14 won the Princeton Prize in Race Relations for Connecticut, and last year, Nicole Chavez ’15 received a Certificate of Accomplishment.
The prize application required four short answers, each fewer than 350 words. The questions asked about the applicant’s particular race relations activities and how that affected them and their school.
As part of the application process, Ms. Libby Peard, the Director of Parent Relations & International Students wrote a recommendation for Biosah.
According to Ms. Peard, “Uzo has been pivotal in starting and keeping important conversations going about race, social justice, equity, and inclusion.”
She elaborated, “Whether through Choate’s Diversity Student Association, CALSA, Diversity Day, or her school-meeting poetry recitations, among other things, Uzo has contributed to our collective education and to a growing commitment to make our campus one where difference is not merely just tolerated, but also celebrated.”
Director of Faculty Development and teacher Mr. Tom White wrote Lawal’s recommendation. He said, “Tomi’s work on making this a more inclusive community involves both formal venues such as CDSA and Diversity Day and countless individual conversations in a variety of settings. His commitment to improving race relations and others types of diversity has been tireless, and I felt that he should be recognized for the work he has done.”
Notified of the award in the midst of winter term-end experiences, Uzo recalled, “It messed up my studying for that night because I was so excited.” She added that the woman who informed her that she had won also said it was a “competitive year.”
Each year, there is either one winner or two co-winners for each of the eligible regions in the United States. Other noteworthy applicants receive a Certificate of Accomplishment.
To celebrate the winners and recipients of honorable mentions in the Connecticut area, there will be a banquet at Yale University. In addition, along with receiving a cash prize, Biosah and Lawal are invited to Princeton University for an all-expenses paid trip to attend the 2016 Princeton Prize Symposium on Race.
According to Princeton University, “the two-and-a-half-day event includes conversations and workshops on race relations with local high school students, Princeton students, alumni, and faculty.” As it happens, the Symposium takes place during Choate’s spring long weekend on April 29-30.
Lawal said, “I think the symposium will be very interesting for us, especially in terms of seeing what we can grasp from it and bring back to share with the community before we head out.”
Biosah also looked forward to the event. She commented, “I really want to emphasize that I’m thankful for not only being able to win the award but for being in a community that provided the opportunities for me to be able to win the award.”
Lawal then concluded that, “There’s no way that we could have achieved it without the support of the community in all different aspects. It’s extremely humbling to have received the prize, but it would be an injustice to assume that we got here by ourselves.”
