On May 2, Abigail Drummond ’18 received the 12th Annual Princeton Prize in Race Relations. According to the Alumni Association of Princeton University, the prize “recognizes and rewards high school students who have had a significant positive impact through volunteerism on race relations in their schools or communities.” Drummond, who lives in Queens, New York, was honored with a Certificate of Recognition for committing much of her time as a student at Choate promoting diversity.
At Choate, Drummond was a cabinet member of the Choate Afro-Latino Student Alliance and an organizer of the 2018 Young Women of Color Conference. According to Ms. Sharonda Dailey, her college counselor, “Abigail’s work in the area of race relations has been incredibly impactful, and it extends beyond her elected leadership roles, proving that you don’t have to hold a position in order to create change.”
Ms. Dailey said of Drummond’s work at Choate, “She was a key voice in RISE [Responsibility, Intellect, Sisterhood, and Empowerment], a women of color affinity group, one of the organizers of our Inauguration Day workshops, and helped plan a faculty professional development session on diversity. Abigail is a difference maker and this award is fitting. Our community is a better one thanks to her passion and dedication.”
In order to win this prize, Drummond completed an extensive nomination and application process. She was nominated by Ms. Dailey, who recommended her to apply. The application is two-fold: one part requires the student to answer several essay-like questions about the significance, scope, and impact of his or her race-related activity; the other requires the sponsor, or the nominator, to be familiar with the work and vouch for the student’s activity. The prize currently awards students in 27 regions of the United States with a cash award of $1,000 as well as an all-expenses-paid weekend to a national symposium on race at Princeton.
Regarding the significance of the award to her, Drummond explained, “This award is special to me because diversity work is very tiring and oftentimes thankless, so it was nice to know that people see what I do and give me some acknowledgement. I don’t do it for the credit, but it was a nice motivator to continue this type of work.”
She went on, “I encourage more people to apply for the prize from Choate, but more importantly to continue doing work in race relations and social justice in general.”
