Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Major Awarded Frances B. Huston Medallion
Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies and Sociology major
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jessi Willis, PhD
“We give our highest recommendation to Megan Beine for the Frances B. Huston Award.
Megan is an exceptional scholar who makes direct connections between her scholarship and the transformative work she does in the world. She understands the importance of theory as it relates to lived experiences. As an example, after studying about violence against women, Megan completed extensive training to serve as a crisis response advocate with Lutheran Community Services. She shared her experiences as a volunteer with her GWSS class, providing a lived context for the issue. This had a lasting impact with her classmates.
Megan’s ability to weave theory into praxis is evident in her current internship with FUTURES without Violence. This is a competitive nation-wide internship that Megan applied for last spring with support from Social Work and GWSS. Throughout this year-long senior internship experience, Megan has provided workshops and outreach on campus about violence prevention and survivor healing.
In mid-April, Megan attended a conference in Washington D.C. with other FUTURES interns, discussing national strategies and approaches to supporting survivors. Megan returned inspired and it’s clear this experience has bolstered her, already significant, leadership acumen.
Finally, as a scholar, Megan takes initiative in asking questions, doing research, and sharing what she learns with wider learning communities. She is extremely articulate, highly motivated, innovative, and self-directed. In her coursework and interactions with peers, Megan demonstrates a vibrant investment in creating scholarship and doing work that addresses issues of marginalization, discrimination, and systemic inequality.
As a leader within the classroom, Megan consistently uses her voice to invite critical collective inquiry. Megan exhibits extraordinary leadership as an activist and feminist change-maker. We believe she is an outstanding candidate and well-deserving of the Frances B. Huston Award.” – Professor Jessi Willis, PhD.
