Almore '08, Templeton win MLK Jr. Day Journey Awards

Anna Almore ’08 and John Templeton, the assistant dean for graduate admissions in the Wilson School, were presented Journey Awards by President Tilghman as part of the Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Day Celebration in Alexander Hall.

The award, created in 2005, seeks to distinguish Princeton students, faculty and staff who contribute to civil-rights and human-rights causes through actions on campus. Tilghman described the recipients as members of the community “who have made a significant difference in the lives of others by taking the message of Dr. King to heart and furthering his work.”

“Following in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not an easy task, nor is it work that we would expect hundreds of individuals to be undertaking at any given time. However, the award is intended to inspire more people to do so,” University spokeswoman Lauren Robinson-Brown ’85, who helped arrange the day’s events, said in an e-mail.

Almore, a former U-Councilor, received the Journey Award for Special Achievement, honoring her development of numerous programs encouraging minority students to apply to and succeed at selective colleges and universities, Tilghman said in her speech. As part of her campaign platform for U-Council, Almore founded the Ignite Student Outreach Program to inspire younger students in inner-city communities to think about college, Tilghman added.

“The program attempts to ignite a sense of possibility in students who have never imagined a future outside their ghettos,” Almore said, adding that this week 100 fifth graders from the Bronx will attend special campus tours and workshops through Ignite. A blog and a pen-pal project are also on the horizon.

As a senior adviser of the Black Student Union’s Leadership and Mentoring Program, Almore has expanded academic and social initiatives to ease the transition into college for freshmen. Almore also spearheaded the addition of a community-service component to the organization.

Almore credits Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson, who nominated her for the award, with the inspiration to make a difference on campus.

“She has been such a role model and mentor to me since I was a freshman,” Almore said. “She taught me early on that I had the resources at my fingertips and just had to utilize them.”
Templeton, who was honored together with Almore, received the Award for Lifetime Service in recognition of his leadership efforts to increase minority applicants to the University, Tilghman said in her speech.

At the ceremony, Tilghman read aloud a message from an anonymous student whom Templeton had inspired through his efforts. “Without his support, I would never, ever have thought I could complete a Princeton degree,” Tilghman quoted from the student’s statement.

In her address, Tilghman spoke of how Templeton’s experience watching “To Kill a Mockingbird” in a segregated theater first inspired him to demolish obstacles facing minority students. In both undergraduate and graduate admissions, he has dramatically diversified the cultural makeup of students throughout his 20-year career at the University, Tilghman explained in her speech.

Templeton, like Almore, has pursued his goals through student groups, helping to launch the Students and Alumni of Color Symposium to create networks bridging minority groups.
The Journey Award winners are chosen by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee, which currently consists of University staff and one student. The committee is hoping to include the student body more in upcoming years.

“We do hope to add more students to the committee, although we understand that the program usually occurs during final-exam period,” said Robinson-Brown ’85, who is the convener for the committee.