Princeton Hidden Minority Council recognized for fostering first-generation, low-income community

The University presented the Journey Award on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to members of the Princeton Hidden Minority Council for their efforts to foster a community for first-generation and low-income students, faculty and administrators on campus.

The award recognizes a member of the Princeton community who are continuing the legacy and journey of King by contributing to the improvement of civil and human rights on campus, according to the award website.

“Through dinners that bring together first-generation students with faculty and staff... and with the development of a website to share resources, opportunities and networks, the Hidden Minority Council has achieved its goal to give voice to the needs and experience of our first-generation and low-income students,” read the award citation presented by Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun during the award ceremony.

The students recognized on the part of the PHMC include founding members Thomas Garcia ’16, Kevin Lopez ’16, Dallas Nan ’16, Lea Trusty ’16, Brittney Watkins ’16, Tula Strong ’15 and Kujegi Camara ’16.

Michele Minter, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity and head of the Martin Luther King Journey Award committee, explained that candidates are nominated by members of the University community who write letters of support.

“For the Hidden Minority Council, several members of the staff wrote letters. My staff reads all the materials submitted, consults with other offices as appropriate and makes recommendations to President Eisgruber, who makes the final decision,” she said.

Calhoun said that King has always regarded working with student activism as a strong part of social change, in light of racial controversies raised by the November protests of the Black Justice League, another student group considered for the award.

Calhoun mentioned that while there has been a lot of acknowledgement of the work done by BJL with regards to affecting institutional and administrative change, PHMC’s longer history may have played a decisive role in the judging process, and added that the PHMC and BJL may be seen as similar to each other in terms of proactive and constructive change.

“Having this recognition will push us to work even harder,” Julie Kwong ’16, co-chair of PHMC, said.

Watkins, another co-chair, also noted that since a lot of the founders are seniors this year, it was an honor for them to be recognized by the University.

Watkins said that the award highlights the partnership between PHMC and University administration, especially as members of the administration have worked closely with the former to conduct projects such as a recent coat drive.

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“It’s important to realize that there is a lot of intersectionality of being a first-generation, lower income student,” Watkins said, explainingthat during meetings among the council or with administrators, the organization always keeps these intersectional identities in mind.

“In recognizing the group [the members of the administration] were saying we are committed to you, you exist and we are here for you. And I think that’s a very important statement to make,” said Camara.

Camara added that though the University makes efforts to recruit first-generation and low-income students, there is not much opportunity for those students to talk about their identities with their roommates, friends or professors when they arrive at the University.

According to Camara, the council was initially founded as an overarching umbrella group that would unite the different organizations in the University that represent low-income, first-generation students, including QuestBridge, the Gates Millennium Scholars program and the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America.

Kwong said that the PHMC intends to create a mentorship program among its alumni network and to develop avenues through which students can come to feel comfortable about their identities.

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated when Calhoun’s comment on student activism and social change was said. The‘Prince’ regrets the error.