2016 PRINCETON PRIZE IN RACE RELATIONS AWARD CEREMONY - May 25, 2016
Please join us for a reception and ceremony featuring speaker Princeton alumna Michelle Silverthorn '04 and honoring local students from Evanston Township High School, Lockport Township High School, Northside College Prep, and Illinois Math and Science Academy. RSVP by 5/25 @ noon!
Maya Crowe-Barnes, 2016 Princeton Prize for Chicago
Maya is being honored for her tireless commitment to advancing the cause of race relations in her school, her community and beyond. Maya has been actively involved with SOAR (Students Organized Against Racism) first as a freshman participant and now during her last two years as a member of the Student Leadership Board. SOAR has several initiatives, but the most visible are the twice a year two day conferences attended by 100 or more students from Evanston High School and other Chicagoland high schools. The SOAR conferences are designed and created by the Student Leadership Board “to provide students with a framework for engaging in interracial dialogue and to build a community of anti-racist leaders at ETHS.” Not only has Maya been a leader and a creator of programs at the conferences, she had challenged the Evanston Township High School Board in evening Board meetings to continue this needed work with moral support and with funds to continue racial consciousness training for the staff at ETHS. Maya has further worked with the Student Leadership Board of SOAR to create several new programs including: (1) The Alliance, a restorative justice program addressing racial conflicts between students and teachers; (2) Mix It Up Day, an interactive session addressing self-segregation in the school cafeteria; and (3) Equity Zones, a program where students nominate staff members for conversations about race, gender identity, class, sexual identity and physical and mental ability. In the words of her sponsor, Corey Winchester, during her 4 years at ETHS, Maya has become “a champion of racial equity and justice, inspiring other students to do the same.”
Michelle Silverthorn '04, Guest Speaker
Michelle Silverthorn '04 is the Diversity & Education Director for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. Through the Commission's online platform, 2Civility, Michelle expands the Commission’s national presence through blogs, social networking sites, and online discussion groups on legal education, diversity and young lawyers. Michelle works with law schools, law students and other legal groups, developing interactive and dynamic education courses and workshops. She also spearheads the professionalism education goals of the Commission, reviewing courses, attending conferences, and developing professionalism programs. She writes and speaks frequently on inter-generational issues in the workplace. She is certified both in instructional design and intercultural competency.
Prior to joining the Commission, Michelle worked as a litigation associate with Schiff Hardin in Chicago and Latham & Watkins in New York City. She also previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist in Trinidad and Tobago, a legal researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Chicago with her husband Daniel and their two daughters. She volunteers in her local and professional community, including serving as Co-Chair of the Michigan Law Alumni Club of Chicago, Director for the Princeton Club of Chicago, and an elected Community Representative for her Local School Council. Michelle received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.