| Sarah Lynch awarded Paul & Sheila Wellstone Award to Sarah Taylor-Nanista at Institute's May 14 commencement ceremony
The Wellstone Award for Public Action recognizes “a graduating Humphrey Institute student who embodies the spirit, passion and dedication of the Wellstones.”
Thank you, Dean Atwood, and to the Humphrey community for giving me the opportunity and privilege of a bit of time to present the fourth Class of 1999 Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award for Public Action. Also, happy graduation, and Happy Mother’s Day.
As a class, we were profoundly impacted by Paul and Sheila Wellstone’s work toward a more just and democratic society. Many of us had the opportunity to work with them, and I personally am honored to present this award to a woman whose dedication and service to progressive public policy, community and issue-based organizing, and grassroots electoral politics suggest a career path that emulates the Wellstones’ core values.
The Paul and Sheila Wellstone Fund was created to award a Humphrey graduate a $500 prize each year. It is intended to be a tribute to the Wellstones’ lives and to their challenge to all of us to act out of our convictions for the causes that matter most to us and our communities. Through their actions, they taught us to be engaged and spirited public actors.
An inspiring group of applicants was presented to the selection committee, which again this year was comprised of five 1999 graduates and our first award winner, Phuong Dao, and we wish each of you the best of luck in your endeavors.
I am delighted to announce that this year’s recipient of the Wellstone Award for Public Action is Sarah Taylor-Nanista. Sarah has a track record in both Oregon and Minnesota working for social justice by focusing on the needs of vulnerable populations, including homeless youth and women involved in chronic prostitution. Sarah’s more recent activities at the Humphrey actually directly respond to a call Paul made to the women in my class when he spoke on our graduation day in 2001—for each and every one of us to consider running for public office. Especially during her time at the Humphrey, she has worked to arm herself and her women colleagues with the tools to better understand the intricacies of electoral politics, to work on campaigns or in elected officials’ offices, and ultimately, to seriously be “Ready to Run” themselves. An event she led encouraged university students across the metro area to talk about getting involved in civic engagement, through an ice cream social, aptly named “Lick Voter Apathy.” This is one of her many accomplishments. The selection committee was impressed by Sarah’s leadership, innovative approaches in both her research and activism, and perhaps above all, her grace.
A professor’s letter supporting Sarah’s receipt of this award said: Sarah is passionately committed to social justice, but never takes herself too seriously nor preaches to others about what is politically correct. She sees the flaws in many campaigns and organizations or crusaders for social justice, but is not discouraged from joining in nonetheless. She reads, thinks, and participates, living life to the fullest. She has a wonderful positive attitude and joie de vivre.
As Paul said, “in the last analysis, politics is not predictions and politics is not observations. Politics is what we do, politics is what we create by what we work for, by what we hope for, and what we dare to imagine.”
Thank you, Sarah, for inspiring us. Congratulations. |
