Rice student receives national award for social activism

Colleen Fugate, a Duncan College senior, was honored this month as one of the Sociologists for Women in Society’s (SWS) 2014 Undergraduate Social Activism Award winners. Fugate is one of three students who received the award at the SWS Winter Meeting Feb. 6-9 in Nashville, Tenn.

The award is given annually to recognize students who make a substantial contribution to improving the lives of women in society through activism. Fugate was honored for her work on transnational migration, reproductive health and conservation.

COLLEEN FUGATE

Fugate has a long history of activism and service, according to Diana Strassmann, the Carolyn and Fred McManis Distinguished Professor in the Practice of the Humanities and director of Rice’s Program on Poverty, Justice and Human Capabilities (PJHC) based in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality. In 2011, Fugate was the only rising sophomore to receive the program’s Susan McAshan Summer Service Internship and spent the summer in Quito, Ecuador, working with Colombian migrants.

“Shocked by the discrimination Colombians faced in Ecuador, Colleen chose to remain for the fall semester interning in Ibarra, a city near the Colombia border,” Strassmann said. “In Ibarra, Colleen worked with the municipal government, where she focused on outreach in the migrant community.”

Fugate, who is majoring in sociology and the study of women, gender and sexuality and minoring in PJHC, spent last summer conducting independent research on the effect of transnational migration on families in central Mexico. She also spent six weeks as a Loewenstern Fellow in the Amazon rainforest in Peru, where she worked on conservation projects. In Houston, she has volunteered for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast and is one of the founding members of the student chapter at Rice.

“Both my classes at Rice and involvement with different community organizations in Houston and abroad have taught me the importance of being engaged in social justice issues,” Fugate said. “I hope to continue to travel and conduct research on the lives of women before going to graduate school.”