Four CGIS alumni are among the seven students that have been awarded Central Campus MLK Spirit Awards this year for exemplifying the leadership and extraordinary vision of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in social justice and inclusivity. 

The Spirit Awards honor undergraduate students at U-M's Ann Arbor campus who are nominated by a faculty or staff member. Nominees must write an essay describing their work to foster equity, inclusivity, and social justice. Awards are given to students who challenge oppressive norms, promote cross-cultural collaboration, confront systemic injustices, and build inclusive communities and equitable spaces.

"One of the most gratifying parts of organizing the Spirit Awards is working with all of the nominees months before the ceremony,"Denise Galarza Sepúlveda, Director of Community-Engaged Academic Learning (CEAL) said. "They come from distinct disciplines and have such varied experiences that when they have a space to learn about each other's work and to identify how interconnected their efforts are, it feels incredibly powerful. There is a palpable energy in the room as they work together to craft a message and this collaboration infuses the Ceremony with a strong sense of community and solidarity."

For the past three years, nominees have had a chance to meet with Spirit Award alumni that CEAL invites back to campus. The leadership lunch has become a platform to discuss the challenges of being student activists, then and now, and to exchange ideas and strategies for activism on campus and beyond. It has become a vision-driven networking opportunity that helps nominees understand how their social justice passion can lead to fulfilling careers. Alumni have also noted how inspired they feel by current students and how this experience gives them renewed energy to continue their work.

Learn more about the MLK Spirit Awards on CEAL's Website. The Office of Community-Engaged Academic Learning's (CEAL) mission is to promote pedagogical innovation through community-based learning (CBL) initiatives that help students become adaptive, creative, and impactful in their engagement with the world.  

Join us in celebrating these exceptional students and their commitment to social justice both at home and abroad.

Amrita Das, Spanish 230 Costa Rica 2016, GIEU Japan 2017​

Amrita currently is pursuing a B.A. in International Studies at LSA, with two minors: Community Action and Social Change and Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies. She is president of the Alpha Chapter of the Delta Tau Lambda Sorority, a Latina-based multicultural organization on campus that focuses on academic excellence, professionalism, and community service in communities of women of color. She is a member of the marketing and promotions committee for Yoni Ki Baat.

Breaking Down Barriers

“Spanish in Costa Rica was intense. I got homesick very easily, and honestly, I got so sick of speaking ‘struggle-Spanish’ with my host parents. But, it was my first time abroad as a first-generation college student. I was breaking barriers, and breaking those barriers led to me spending my time exploring other countries later on. It led to me gaining skills in speaking and understanding Spanish that I didn't appreciate when I was there. It led to me thinking about global issues through a lens I wouldn't have otherwise had. A year later, I decided to apply for GIEU Japan, and it has been the best decision I have ever made. A lot of the friends I made in Japan are still very good friends of mine. All the connections I made there are still present. All the experiences I had enjoying and appreciating the beauty of Japan, were what made my trip. I learned so much about Japan and my hometown of Detroit as part of the GIEU experience, and I am so grateful for the privilege of participating.”


Listening and Local Engagement

“My experiences abroad are part of what shaped me as the person I am. I don't think I would have been as open-minded or as good of a listener. My experiences abroad gave me a lens that can't ever be taken away. Even the way I think about issues now--they're too complex and multifaceted for me to think about it as many people do. And it keeps me engaged in local issues, especially pertaining to my hometown of Detroit because many of the issues that my community has are issues that are prevalent in the places I visited abroad. And this leads to an even bigger question--why are we not going back to our communities after we graduate and creating change together? Then I decided to do exactly that.”

Gloriela Iguina-Colón, GIEU India 2015, GIEU Program Assistant Peru 2016, Science Po Paris Winter 2017​

A senior majoring in Public Policy with a minor in Environmental Science, Gloriela is also the chair of the Undergraduate Chapter of the Students of Color in Public Policy, was a Marsh Fellow with the Global Intercultural Experiences for Undergraduates (GIEU) program, and Program Assistant with the Program on Intergroup Relations.

Social Justice and Responsibility

“My experiences with GIEU and study abroad completely transformed how I saw myself and my responsibility to people I interact with. I felt not only a connection to them, but a responsibility. The pre-travel preparation was one of my first introductions to social justice education. I had been part of a dialogue setting in high school called Global Potential, with a lot of immigrant youth coming into the same space. That sparked my interest in social justice education, but I didn’t know what it was. Through the Program on Intergroup Relations and the GIEU prep program, I was able to think critically about what my place in the world was and how my identities manifest in every space I inhabit.”

Conscientious Travel and Community Service

“Going to India and then Peru was completely eye-opening, being able to see what sustainability means in very different settings and very different ways. I was able to travel with a purpose. That has really stayed with me. Yes, you can travel for leisure, but there’s also a gaining consciousness of what systemic oppression looks like, what it means to be an American citizen abroad. I became way more conscientious of the way I interacted with people and what I should be doing when I was abroad. Even when I was traveling to Thailand after my India trip, what did that mean that I could do that? What does it mean that I have these privileges even as someone who has a lot of salient marginalized identities? There was something so universal that underlied everything we did at the Golden Temple. At the core of it is seva, which means service. Community service is not just something you do for a scholarship or a program, it’s a way of life. It’s become a part of who I am.

“My highlight of my entire time in Paris was being able to work with the refugee help group at Science Po Paris. As a person who identifies as part of the Puerto Rican diaspora, there are so many times when I don’t feel like I belong, but I feel so deeply connected to being Puerto Rican. So, I deeply connected with the idea of not belonging, of not being given a full legal status of full citizenship and full membership in a society. It was really sobering that a place like Paris is also a tale of two cities. When I was volunteering, I would take the train from my place near the Eiffel Tower 40 minutes away to a place that was not considered ‘safe’ or ‘nice.’ Wherever I go, there’s going to be some kind of inequality or inequity and we can choose to turn a blind eye or engage in a conscious manner.”

Engagement Abroad and At Home

“Being abroad and seeing these problems manifest in different ways just gives me more insight into how these problems can be very nuanced and distinct, but there’s very root causes of economic disparities and colonialism. All come from very similar types of patterns that have occurred throughout history. Traveling made me realize I have to serve, and I’ve made it my main focus at least right now to be here in the U.S. In Puerto Rico there’s things that need to be addressed right now--a sort of fierce urgency of now. Being abroad makes me more ready and more passionate about addressing inequities now. These things are happening here, we don’t need to go very far to see that and begin now.”

Jenise Williams, GIEU India 2015​

Jenise is the vice president and co-membership chairperson of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She also is a member of the Dean of Students Advisory Board. Jenise traveled to Amritsar, India, to study food sustainability at the Golden Temple. She has served as a co-site director for the “It’s Great to be a Girl” mentoring program and has worked as a research analyst for the Department of Psychology and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She is a psychology major in U-M’s College of LSA, with a focus on business and developmental psychology.

Working Together for a Common Goal

“Our group was really close, that relationship is really important. The majority of us were all the same year. The Golden Temple is this conundrum--how is it feasible to help that many people and never miss a beat? There’s no sign in or checking identification, but it still runs and works and flows. It was amazing meeting a lot of the people who were there day in and day out. It was more than just the sugar-coated picture of just going abroad and volunteering a little.

“The biggest thing I’d say I took away from service at the Golden Temple is that humans are human. There was a huge language barrier, and we tried to learn some of the language, but having a full conversation with them was not realistic. With the women I could see my mom in them. The men would greet you in the way that an uncle would greet you. Culturally there are differences, but we were working towards a human, common goal: here are people who need this food, people need to have this area tidy and neat, etc. Being able to meet those goals daily was a huge thing that I still think about now. We can be completely different and seem to have nothing in common, but when you have that drive and passion to meet a goal with someone it can transcend language barriers and difference.”

Self-Empowerment and Self-Esteem

“Something that was really relevant to social justice was seeing how colorism plays out. I was one of two African-American women on the trip, but our experiences were very different. Some of the other students, for example a student of German descent, had pictures taken of them by local residents, and they were like celebrities. After the fact, I thought about the fact that no one ever stopped me specifically to take a picture. I started thinking about how in places like India and South Africa, the native look is a wide range of skin colors, but the beauty standard is something so far from those differences, and this is something common to many places around the world and here. That really shows how important it is to stress variations of beauty, variations of health. It’s so important to build self-empowerment and self-esteem early. And if you miss the window of building self-esteem in young adulthood, it’s not too late to intervene.”

Hunter Zhao, GIEU Mexico 2015, Liberal Arts in Athens 2016, GCC Amsterdam and Berlin 2016

Hunter is passionate about international migration and the protection of the rights of refugees and migrants. He is the president of First-Generation College Students @ Michigan and serves on the leadership team of Michigan Active Citizens: Alternative Spring Break. He has interned at the Post-Conflict Research Center and the U.S. Department of State and is now a Gilman Alumni Ambassador.

The Bigger Picture

“Coming to university opened my horizons for understanding the bigger picture, for example, systemic oppression against minorities. Study abroad augmented that even one step forward by helping me think about issues happening not only in the United States but as part of the larger global drama, such as racism. It’s never just a single country issue. After participating in GIEU and study abroad, I have a better appreciation of how social justice work is interconnected around the world.”

Active Citizenship and Continuing Impact

“Study abroad was my first introduction to the topic of international migration, one of the focuses of my BA. Going into GIEU, I had a love of music and interest in folk art. Interviewing the artisans in Mexico, it was interesting that the majority were actually women, because in classes we were learning about men historically being the leaders. It was migration to the US that drove men away from a lot of these artisan communities. It was interesting to see how women were stepping into that power gap. One of my favorite ways of learning something new is unexpectedly coming across it.

“GIEU has been a living program for me--something that has lived beyond one summer. We were able to establish partnerships for the artists we worked with via different organizations around the world. For example, this empowered the artists by helping them connect with a French textbook company and even a professor here in Michigan who has some of the Mexican artwork supplied through his network. GIEU is a program through which you can have a meaningful impact that really continues. The program helped me reflect on active citizenship and what I do once I leave a community.”