Every year, Student Life recognizes students and campus organizations dedicated to supporting the community in the spirit of philosopher and activist Grace Lee Boggs ’35. This year’s Barnard Bold Award recipients have exemplified Boggs’ commitment to activism by volunteering their time and advocating for others. As Boggs famously said, “We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other.”
The following students and organizations were recognized on April 20, 2020 for their work:
Bold Award for Civic Engagement
Caroline Cutlip ’20
“Caroline is exactly the type of person that Barnard is trying to help us become: bold, proactive, accountable, and full of hope. This is evident in her work with the Committee on Sustainability, where she pioneered a program to bring locally made, reusable mugs to the Peet’s Coffee location in the Milstein Center last year, and in her organization of the 2019 Give and Go Green.”
— Sachi Yuan ’20, nominator
Bold Award for Coalition Building
Tara Anand ’20
“Tara has worked one-on-one with hundreds of students to facilitate intentional conversations about the challenges regarding diversity seen in the tech and entrepreneurship ecosystems and to identify tangible ways that her peers, as the future of these spaces, can make a difference. Tara has truly raised awareness about the consequences of homogeneity in these ecosystems and has helped develop thinkers who ensure change is brought about.”
— Jessica Barrios ’22, nominator
Bold Award for Dedication to Community Care + Uplift
Global Ambassadors
“Global Ambassadors have been providing exceptional support for the Barnard international community by supporting international students at Barnard. They have not only worked at different events that the International Student Services Office put on, but also brainstormed with staff members on new programming proposals to better tailor our services to current students.”
— International Student Services Staff, nominator
Anne Farrell ’21
“I have never met anyone who exemplifies ‘community care and uplift’ more than Annie Farrell. Everyone who’s ever met her notices her kindness, conscientiousness, and dedication to supporting and improving her community. She thoughtfully and proactively works to amplify marginalized voices and make Barnard a place we can all be proud of, even when it’s hard and without taking space from others.”
— Alison Kahn ’21, nominator
Bold Award for Dedication to Intersectional Feminism
Asha Futterman ’21
“As a Research Assistant at the Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW) since September 2018, Asha Futterman has been integrally involved with BCRW’s Social Justice Institute (SJI) Activists and Researchers-in-Residence. Asha has been integral to the BCRW SJI’s ongoing project, Interrupting Criminalization, which aims to interrupt and end the growing criminalization and incarceration of women and LGBTQ people. Asha’s work with activists Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba on this project is intersectional feminism writ large.”
— Elizabeth Castelli, professor of religion, nominator
Bold Award for Visionary + Radical Leadership
Amanda Taylor ’21
“Amanda Taylor is the epitome of Visionary & Radical Leadership, for challenging the community to be more inclusive and deconstruct systems that harm marginalized communities. Via the BLUE Chats series, Amanda has challenged the Barnard community to do the hard work of addressing how pop culture can uplift or harm marginalized communities.”
— Ruthy Lopez, department assistant for Student Life, nominator
Batya Kemper ’20
“Batya Kemper [has made an] outstanding contribution to raising awareness about cybersecurity issues that affect students and activists. Through activism and scholarship during her internship with PEN America, Batya recognized the importance for members of the Barnard community (and beyond) to understand how easily one can become the target for digital harassment.”
— Christine Whalley, director, Information Security, nominator
Mujeres
“Mujeres has consistently been an organization that has been dedicated to uplifting and supporting the Latinx community both on and off campus — with an emphasis on women and gender minorities. This past year Mujeres was allotted a space on campus for the organization after the board worked tirelessly to create and distribute a petition describing the importance of having a home on Barnard’s campus.”
— Fatima Burgos ’21, nominator