Rachel Steiner ’17 wins state Student Activist Award for peace, justice issues

Rachel Steiner of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a senior at Ripon College, will receive a 2017 Student Activist Award from the Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. The award will be presented at the organization’s spring student conference March 30-31 at Alverno College in Milwaukee.

The award is made annually to “Wisconsin college or university students who have made an outstanding contribution to activism related to peace and justice issues.”

Steiner was nominated by Jean-Blaise Samou, professor of French; Molly Margaretten, professor of anthropology; Kyonna Henry, director of multicultural affairs; and Mary Unger, professor of English, for her work with the Ripon College Disability Rights, Education and Activism Movement (DREAM), Ripon College Feminists, Ripon College Diversity Coalition, and Queer Straight Alliance of Ripon College.

She either founded or revitalized these organizations with her “leadership and energy and ha(s) mentored new leaders to carry on after (her) graduation,” the organization says.

Steiner is an anthropology major at Ripon College with minors in women’s studies and English.