Nia Awards

• W.E.B DuBois/ Nelson Mandela Commitment to Dialogue and Education Award: Recognizes an individual that has improved the NYU climate through engaging peers, students, faculty, and/or staff in thoughtful dialogue and education.
• Malcolm X/Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award: Recognizes a student that has impacted the NYU community through their strong leadership and scholarship. As a leader, this student has supported their peers and helped develop the strengths of those around them.
• Mahatma Gandhi/ Rigoberta Menchu Tum Innovative Response Award: Recognizes the positive work that a student has done to facilitate engagement/dialogue/awareness around current issues that affect the NYU campus and/or the NYC community.
• Urvashi Vaid/ Melinda Paras Inclusive Programming Award: Recognizes the programming of a student that is inclusive of The Center ideals of diversity, social justice, and recognition of multiple social identities.
• Cesar Chavez/Clara Hale Commitment to Community Outreach Award: Recognizes a student that has worked with and supported the local NYC community through service, programming, and/or advocacy.
• Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media Award: Recognizes an individual that has worked to promote a positive image of people of color in any area of entertainment and media.
• Philip Vera Cruz/Pete Velasco Mentorship Award: Recognizes an individual that is dedicated to supporting the academic, emotional, or professional growth of others by serving as a mentor and resource.
• Ronald McNair and Arthur Schomburg Academic Excellence Award: Recognizes an individual that has excelled academically, shown commitment to diversity and social justice through their academic work, or has used their education to better support their community at NYU and/or NYC. (including but not limited to sciences, health, humanities, entrepreneurship)
• Administrator Award: An administrator who is dedicated and committed to the empowerment of students that reflect the multicultural communities of NYU.
• Faculty Award: A faculty member who has dedicated their time to support NYU students co-curricular endeavors around diversity and social justice.
• Michael Parkes Distinguished Alumni Award: An alumnus who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to student development and community service. 

W.E.B DuBois/ Nelson Mandela Commitment to Dialogue and Education Award
Gerald "JJ" Jean-Baptiste (UG), Tisch School of the Arts
Maurice Shirley (Grad), Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Malcom X/Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award
Earl Roach (UG), Stern School of Business
Barbara Augustin (Grad), Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Mahatma Gandhi/Rigoberta Menchu Tum Innovative Response Award
Lizza M Dauenhauer-Pendley (UG), Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Kelsie Price (UG), Stern School of Business

Urvashi Vaid/ Melinda Paras Inclusive Programming Award
Rashida Kamal (UG), College of Arts and Sciences
Zaneta Rago (Grad), Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Cesar Chavez/Clara Hale Commitment to Community Outreach Award
Basia Bowen (UG), Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Ashley Harrington (Grad), School of Law

Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media Award
Thais Francis (UG), Tisch School of the Arts
Jessica dela Merced (Grad), Tisch School of the Arts

Philip Vera Cruz/Pete Velasco Mentorship Award
Abigail Garcia (UG), College of Arts and Sciences
Akintoye Moses (Grad), Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Ronald McNair/Arthur Schomburg Academic Excellence Award
Jennifer Rignack (UG), College of Arts and Sciences
Christie Gutierrez (Grad), School of Medicine

Administrator Award
Stephen Polniaszek, Center for Student Activities, Leadership and Service
Paulina Abaunza, Student Resource Center

Faculty Award
Fabienne Doucet, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Alumni Award
Patrick Delices, Stern School of Business

W.E.B DuBois/ Nelson Mandela Commitment to Dialogue and Education Award 
Ivan Rahman
Anna Zinko

Mahatma Gandhi/Rigoberta Menchu Tum Innovative Response Award
James Neely 
Shane Fitchett

Urvashi Vaid/ Melinda Paras Inclusive Programming Award
Christopher Woods 
Selima Jumarali

Ronald McNair/Arthur Schomburg Academic Excellence Award
Catherine Pena
April Davis

Philip Vera Cruz/Pete Velasco Mentorship Award
Natasha Stanislas
Benjamin Meyer

Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media Award
Eden Jeffries
Rachael K. Sharp

Cesar Chavez/Clara Hale Commitment to Community Outreach Award
Alicia Bell
Lilly Padia
Chris Mosier

Malcom X/Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award
Felipe Ford Cole
Calvin Hadley

Michael Parkes Distinguished Alumni Award
Nsenga Magnus Farrell

Faculty Award
Peggy A. Morton

Administrator Award
Valerie Cabral

Ronald McNair/Arthur Schomburg Academic Excellence Award

Yung Hua Nancy Ng Tam

Presented by: Laura Chen-Schultz

Genesis Briggs

Presented by: Jeffrey Rabhan

Special Recognition of James Delano by Dean Tyra Liebmann

Cesar Chavez/Clara Hale Commitment to Community Outreach Award

Xavier Smith

Presented by: Tyra Liebmann

Amilcar Javier

Presented by: Jason Javier

W.E.B DuBois/ Nelson Mandela Commitment to Dialogue and Education Award

Max Liboiron

Presented by Jim Mathews

Mohsen Malik

Award Presented by: Sumbal Khan

Philip Vera Cruz/Pete Velasco Mentorship Award

Bobby Casiano

Presented by: Courtney O'Mealley

Jazmin Molina

Presented by: Stephanie Rodriguez

Malcom X/Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award

marcus d. harvey

Presented by: Erica Morales

Crystal Boyd

Presented by: Daniel Banks

Mahatma Gandhi/Rigoberta Menchu Tum Innovative Response Award
Suhaly Bautista

Presented by: Tyler Crisman

Ericka Ward

Presented by: Kelly Thomas

Urvashi Vaid/ Melinda Paras Inclusive Programming Award

Krista Kohlmann

Presented by: Marcella Runell Hall

Tovah Leibowitz

Presented by: Christopher Woods

Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media Award

Cornelius Jones Jr.

Presented by: Frances Levin

Tonya Ingram

Presented by: Denise Boneta

Faculty Award

e. Francis White

Presented by: David McLaughlin

Administrator Award

Diana Lugo-Martinez

Presented by: Stephanie Rodriguez

Pamela McKelvin-Jefferson

Presented by: Parameshwari Maragatham

Michael Parkes Distinguished Alumni Award

Oslene Carrington

Presented by: Nicole Adams 

• Cesar Chavez, farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist, led a nationwide boycott of California grapes that supporters say led to numerous improvements for union laborers.
• W.E.B DuBois carried on dialogues about segregation, political disfranchisement, and ways to improve African American life.
• Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of a nationwide struggle for home rule and undertook major campaigns of nonviolence resistance that eventually lead to the end of British rule in India in 1947.
• Clara Hale founded the Hale House in 1975, the first licensed Black voluntary childcare agency in the country and from her home in Harlem she cared for over 500 children that were separated from their families or were addicted to drugs at birth.
• Lorraine Hansberry, an American playwright deeply committed to the Black struggle for equality and human rights, wrote A Raisin in the Sun (1959) which was the first drama by an African American woman to be produced in Broadway. 
• Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership was fundamental in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States.  
• Nelson Mandela was able to help end South Africa’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered a peaceful transition into majority rule through his engagement with the community.
• Ronald McNair, a crusader of education who grew up in a segregated, small town in rural South Carolina became a physicist and astronaut had a lifelong commitment was to inspire and encourage students to dream big, work hard, and accomplish their goals. 
• Rigoberta Menchú has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and was awarded a Noble Peace Prize in 1992 in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.
• Melinda Paras is a former Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force who played an instrumental role in organizing the Youth Leadership Training Institute.
• Michael Parkes, 27, a NYU Alumni, worked as an accountant in the World Trade Center, but his goal was to help young people on a grand scale -- to guide young black men into top colleges and corporations and teach them true friendship. Among his friends, he was the diplomat, the mediator. 
• Arthur Schomberg believed that “history must restore what slavery took away” ad dedicated his life to the creation of a library that would confirm and affirm the history and contributions of people of color through materials and artifacts on black cultural life.  
• Urvashi Vaid is an attorney and community organizer who is best known for her work dedicated to promoting civil rights issues for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.
• Philip Vera Cruz was a labor leader, farmworker, and leader in the Asian American civil rights movement who worked to improve the working conditions for migrant workers.
• Pete Velasco, also involved with first UFW grape strike in 1965, spent years educating consumers about the importance of the strike and boycott, and became a community institution in the Bay Area.
• Malcolm X, a leader in the civil rights movement, called for action and encouraged people to believe in their independence.