ESU Fall 2014 Undergraduate Student Bailey Harman and Graduate Student Brittany Clark Receive Shirley Chisholm Award

Caption 1:  Bailey Harman is the Fall 2014 undergraduate recipient of the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Shirley Chisholm Award for her ongoing demonstration of excellence in learning, sensitivity to social issues, and commitment to activism. Harman is pictured displaying her award with Marianne Cutler, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, who nominated her for the award. 

 Caption 2:  Student Briana Ragin accepted the Shirley Chisholm award on behalf of Brittany L. Clark, the Fall 2014 graduate recipient. Ragin is pictured displaying the award alongside Beth Rajan Sockman, Ph.D., associate professor of digital media technologies, who nominated Brittany for the award.

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania recently presented the Fall 2014 Shirley Chisholm Awards to undergraduate student Bailey Harman of Milford and graduate student Brittany L. Clark of Philadelphia.  Harman graduated in December 2014 with a degree in sociology and social work and a minor in women’s studies. Clark graduated in December 2014 with her master’s in education.

The Shirley Chisholm award is sponsored by ESU’s Commission for Women, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, the ESU Graduate College, the women’s studies minor and the Women’s Center. The Shirley Chisholm Award was established in 1991 after Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress and the first to run for United States President, was awarded an honorary doctorate from ESU. The award honors graduating female students who, like Shirley Chisholm, are dedicated to academic excellence, are sensitive to issues of social justice and committed to activism.

Harman, who graduated with a 3.7 GPA, was named the Shirley Chisolm Award recipient based on her academic accomplishments. She has been an active volunteer in the community throughout her life Harman taught community education classes in the sexual assault/domestic violence field, spent a year in AmeriCorps teaching primary prevention to high school and college students and helped implement bystander intervention programs to prevent high school bullying. She is also on the board of the Upper Delaware GLBT Center, she co-facilitated a support group in the center’s youth program, and she chaperones the youth group on a trip to march in the New York City Pride Parade. Harman feels her mission as a sociology and social work major is to strive to achieve social justice for others. “I have a voice and I use it by advocating for groups and trying to empower individuals to find their voices,” she says.

Like Harman, graduate award winner, Brittany Clark, exceled in the academic world. She earned her Master of Education in instructional technology with a GPA of 3.9. Clark is a member of Iota Iota Iota, the women’s studies honor society. She has worked with Upward Bound as a student intern and encouraged the program’s participating youth to yearn for a chance at a college education. She also has been a peer mentor and graduate assistant for the university’s Student in Transition to Academic Realization (STAR) program. This program assists students to achieve academic success and graduate from college. Clark volunteered with Women’s Resources of Monroe County and hosted ESU’s Take Back the Night event, which raises campus awareness of domestic violence. Clark was unable to attend the Shirley Chisholm awards ceremony, so Briana Ragin accepted the award on her behalf.

The achievements of these young women demonstrate a commitment to academic excellence, sensitivity to issues of social justice and a concern to engage in actions to advance those causes.

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