Rajak and Ike Win 2015 Alden Awards

Rajak and Ike Win 2015 Alden Awards

The Service-Learning Program is happy to announce the 2015 Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Award winners. The Awards recognize graduating seniors, one faculty member and one community partner for their outstanding commitment to the ideals of service-learning. Two students won 2015 Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards.

Trish Ike: Trish has spent much of her time at Duke championing and leading reflection. Her academic involvement with service-learning was largely related to Dr. Deborah Gold; Trish first took a number of Dr. Gold's sociology classes and then went on to act as the head reflection facilitator for all of her classes. Trish was also an active member of LEAPS, where she became the chair of the Reflection Committee and helped to create Project Reflect, an open program meant to help students and community members reflect on various topics related to service. As Trish mentioned in her nomination, she has "grown to acknowledge the importance and necessity of reflection within the realms of civic engagement to unpack the implications of why we serve."

Laxmi Rajak: Laxmi has spent her time at Duke learning about educational disparities and advocating for education both in the U.S. and abroad. She took a number of education-related service-learning courses and expanded on her work through co-curricular experiences with DukeEngage and the Hart Leadership program. Laxmi plans to continue her work with educational initiatives through her work with The Karsh Mentorship Initiative, a program she co-founded with the goal of promoting civic-engagement and leadership development in Nepal.

We would like to recognize and applaud all 2015 student nominees for their leadership, commitment, impact in the community and thoughtful reflections!

  • Anthony Olawo
  • Emma DeVries
  • Jamie Begstrom
  • Lauren Taylor
  • Laxmi Rajak
  • Rosie Nowhitney
  • Trish Ike