Princeton Prize Symposium in Race Relations honors 27 high school students

The eighth annual Princeton Prize Symposium in Race Relations honored 27 high school students representing 25 different regions across the United States.

The students were flown into campus free of charge after winning the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, an award that recognizes and reinforces the commendable work of high school students who have promoted better race relations within their schools or communities. The initiative was founded by Henry Von Kohorn '66 in the fall of 2003 and the symposium is sponsored byalumni from the Class of 1966 and the bequest of Dora Y. Lee '76.

All events, including conversations and workshops on race relations, took place at the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Understanding and Robertson Hall this past weekend.

"The winners every year are amazing, and this year in particular, I think, because nationally there was so much confrontation about race," saidPavithra Vijayakumar ’15, a former Princeton Prize winner.

She added that this year’s prize winners all had enormous impacts in their communities as a whole.

Hannah Rosenthal ’15, a former Princeton Prize winner who attended her fifth symposium this past weekend, described the 2015 cohort of winners as exceptionally strong.

She noted that the awardis meaningful particularly because it was around before the recent national uproar regarding racial issues, including in Ferguson and on the University's campus.

"Every single student was working on a project that stuck out to me,” saidDebbie Scott Williams '84, the National Board Chair of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations.

Williams said it is very empowering to see these students bringing so much positive change to their communities.

"The prize-winners advocate for change, but most importantly, they advocate for interpersonal relationships with their classmates and with their community members,” Williams said.

She noted that the change started small through interactions from person to person, then spread throughout a school and even throughout a community.

"There were many projects that could be easily transferable here. It'd be really interesting for Princeton students and these high school students to interact," Vijayakumar said.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Class of 1966 hopes to get the student body more involved next year, according to former Princeton Prize winner Brandon McGhee ’18.

"It is not usual where you can go to a space and instantly talk about race and prejudices, it's a great experience," said McGhee, "for the students themselves it shows them that their work is important and it also shows you that you are not alone in the fight."

He added that he was "extremely proud" of all of the winning students.