Four Northwestern graduates from the class of 2021 have received Jazzy Johnson Waw-jashk Student Awards for their contributions as student activists. Three of these students, Karina Aguilar, Minna Ito, and Chloe Wong, graduated from Weinberg College.
The awards are presented annually to students by the Campus Inclusion and Community. The students were nominated by faculty, staff, and students for demonstrating exceptional commitment, courage, care, service and humility
Karina Aguilar
Karina Aguilar graduated from Northwestern with a degree in sociology. They served as the Rainbow Alliance’s first activism chair before transferring to become a senior mentor on the executive board, where they helped move the organization to become more actively social justice-oriented.
Minna Ito
Minna Ito is a communication sciences and disorders and Asian American studies graduate. She was the president of the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC), served as vice president, program educator and philanthropy chair of Sigma Psi Zeta, and she also organized as a grassroots leader of Students Organizing for Labor Rights (SOLR), where she distributed over $80,000 to more than 200 Northwestern dining staff members.
Chloe Wong
Chloe Wong is an anthropology, global health studies, and Asian American studies graduate. Wong’s contributions to Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA), the Center for Civic Engagement and the multicultural sorority Kappa Phi Lambda were “marked by the spirit of service” and connected the campus to local and global issues including the pandemic and the rise of anti-Asian violence and police brutality.
Read more about this year’s award recipients in Northwestern Now.