Release date: Jan. 31, 2008
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Emory Humanitarians Honored for Diverse Service

Emory University students Zain Ahmed, Alex Kappus, Stephanie LaPointe, Anneliese Millones and Benish Shah were recently named the university's 2008 Humanitarian Award winners. The honor recognizes students who embody a spirit of volunteerism and sense of community, both on campus and off.

Students are nominated for the Humanitarian Award by peers and faculty members for: demonstrating honesty, integrity, responsibility and a sense of community; for special acts of courage and friendship; and for committing an unusual amount of time and energy in service to others. This year's honorees are extensively involved in both local and international community service.

• Zain Ahmed, a senior chemistry major, is a former Emory Community Building and Social Change Fellow. He is working with students from Emory, Harvard and Princeton universities to develop Global HEED (Health, Education and Economic Development), a non-profit that is working in Guatemala to develop a clinic, school and micro-credit initiative. He has served as an EMT with the Emory First Responder Unit, as an Ethics and Servant Leadership Scholar and a resident advisor. Ahmed is a coordinator of tutorial services for high school students with Emory Science Outreach. He also helped raise more than $20,000 for Asian tsunami relief.

• Alex Kappus, a sophomore political science and philosophy major, founded SYNERGY, a student organization focused on building community within Emory and beyond campus. The group, now with more than 200 members, started the popular "Free Hugs Day" during Wonderful Wednesdays, a weekly campus social and community-building event. SYNERGY also has held Halloween parties for local children, raised funds for the Atlanta's Children's Shelter and sponsored other campus events geared at breaking down social barriers.

• Stephanie LaPointe, a senior biology major, is co-director of Volunteer Emory. She has led weekly service trips to My House, a home in Atlanta for medically fragile children awaiting placement in the foster care system. Last year, she initiated "Clairmont Campus Fun Day" for local children from after-school programs, and organized an afternoon of fun activities for the children and university students to share together. She also took a lead role last fall in the campus portion of Emory Cares, an international service day for Emory alumni, students, faculty and staff. She helped recruit 400 volunteers to serve at 25 community agencies in metro-Atlanta.

• Emory School of Medicine student Anneliese Millones is a member of Health Students Taking Action Together (HealthSTAT), a group of student leaders in the health professions throughout Georgia. She works tirelessly for the organization, putting together activities to raise awareness of healthcare issues facing the people of Georgia and lobbying at the state capital for health care rights for the uninsured. She volunteers at clinics in rural South Georgia and in Atlanta to provide health care to those in need. She also is involved in research at Grady Hospital.

• Emory Law student Benish Shah is director of community outreach for the Student Bar Association and founder of Emory's South Asian Law Students Association. She recently founded and is editor-in-chief of NEEM Magazine (www.neemmagazine.com), which is focused on the South Asian-American community and deals with cultural and women's issues such as divorce, rape, violence against women, adoption in Islam and more. She also founded and led an initiative within the law school to provide nearly 300 craft and toy kits for seriously ill patients at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta who are unable to attend "activity time." She has helped organize SBA's holiday food drive, worked with Toys for Tots, and organized a charity event to raise money and awareness for victims of acid burning in South Asia. In addition, she trains new student volunteers for the "Know Your Rights" workshops through the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic.

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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