Margaret BauerSix members of the Washington University community, both past and current, were presented with the University’s first annual Sesquicentennial Ethic of Service Award last night. The award honors those who exemplify a character of service and contribution to the St. Louis community. The award winners this year included two undergraduate students, Linda Esah and Juliet DiLeo; a graduate student, Edy Yong Kim; and three professionals, Sanford Silverstein, W. Edwin Dodson, and G. Scott Robinson.
DiLeo said that she was glad that the University has decided to create an award honoring service in the St. Louis community and was excited to meet the other award winners.
“I’m very pleased that the University has chosen to honor these sort of activities. I don’t think anyone who received this award did it for the recognition, so it’s nice that the University is recognizing the work they have done,” said DiLeo before the awards ceremony. “I’m just can’t wait to meet these people because they all sound like such amazing people.”
DiLeo received the award primarily for her work with Each One Teach One, a community service program that provides tutoring for students living in the city of St. Louis. DiLeo joined Each One Teach One as a tutor in her freshmen year, and later became the coordinator of the program.
“I joined because my LAUNCH coordinator freshmen year, Glenn Davis, was actually the coordinator of Each One Teach One. He told me about it, and I thought, ‘Hey, this sounds like a good way to get off of campus, meet some new people, and hang out with kids.’ But as I got to see more of how the system worked, I realized that the school system just really wasn’t fair for these kids,” said DiLeo.
DiLeo’s realization eventually led her to apply for the coordinator position for Each One Teach One. Now, as a senior, DiLeo plans to follow a career path that will allow her to address inequalities in education policy. She will be working as a middle-school special education instructor with Teach For America in Philadelphia in the fall. After she finishes her work with Teach for America, DiLeo plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Law, Justice, and Society at American University’s School of Public Policy.
Medical student Edy Yong Kim took on a project that also targeted social injustice, but from an environmental point of view. After founding the Public Health Interest Group and the WU Medical Plunge (WUMD), Yong Kim joined the Health and Environmental Justice Group (HEJ) in 2000. Formerly known as the Medical Incinerator Group, the HEJ sought to form a coalition students, community members, and professionals to protest the environmental injustice of a medical incinerator in a low-income neighborhood in North St. Louis. Yong Kim said that in trying to shutdown the incinerator the HEJ utilized three tactics.
“Basically we had a three-pronged strategy to getting the medical waste incinerator shutdown. The first was trying to negotiate with the customers, which were basically the hospitals. The second was trying to raise public awareness and form a strong coalition against the incinerator. And the third was lobbying the mayor’s Office. That was the tactic that eventually worked,” said Yong Kim.
In 2002 the HEJ’s efforts led the Board of Aldermen to pass legislation banning waste incineration in St. Louis City. The HEJ Group has now turned its attention to the problem of lead poisoning in St. Louis. Yong Kim said that the experience made him more aware of the potential of group advocacy for solving problems in the community.
“It really opened my eyes to the power of advocacy in the community,” said Yong Kim. “It also made me aware that I personally enjoyed taking more of an advocacy approach than doing things like direct service.”
Neither Yong Kim or DiLeo knew of the award before receiving notification that they had been nominated. Other award winners Silverstein, Dodson, Robinson, and Esah, earned the award for their work in community activities ranging from volunteering with the Action for Women’s Rights and Equality (AWARE) to recording a classical guitar CD to benefit the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. All of the winners were nominated by peers in the community, University, and their respective service organizations.