Sidney Harris, Indiana University
Sidney Harris, a sophomore at Indiana University, is a student leader who is active in almost all realms of student life, including areas of scholarship, political and civic engagement. She is a member of IU’s chapter of Black Student Union and will be the Political Action Committee chair next fall. According to her faculty members, she helped to organize an on campus rally to bring awareness to police brutality and racial injustices with over 600 students and community members in attendance. As you can see from her resume, Sidney is a Cox Engagement Scholar, and serves as an ACE or Advocate for Community Engagement at a local non-profit called MCUM where she facilitates service learning. Through this position, she enables IU students to meet and understand community needs through service. Sidney is also a leader in the Political and Civic Engagement certificate program. Within PACE, “Sidney has developed exceptional moderation and facilitation skills, which only intensify her civic engagement.” Her deep concern for social justice has greatly influenced her studies as a sociology major where she studies issues of race and inequality. She will also have some of her work published in the upcoming year. Sidney’s potential is endless.
-Michael McRobbie, President
The famed author Alice Walker once said “Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet.” I have adopted Walker’s words as a personal mantra and I attempt to re-evaluate my world perspective daily. I consider myself to have an activist’s heart. Therefore, when I am serving in my community, at Monroe County United Ministries, a local Bloomington non-profit, or sitting in one of my many Sociology courses at Indiana University, I’m mindful of the purpose and impact that my education and presence in the community has. I study structural and systemic inequality and I believe that some of the greatest social change is fostered through education. I will work as a professor to education future generations and inspire revolutionaries. Along with the volunteer work I do in my local community I am also heavily involved with my campus. I have helped to organize successful on-campus rallies and worked as a facilitator for large campus discussions on contentious and difficult material. The ability to seek insight, further my awareness of social issues and act are powerful skills that I plan to further develop. I will forever be an activist.
-Sidney Harris
