The John W. Price Award fo r Volunteer Service to International Understanding is awarded each year to a student at the University of Illinois active in organizing and delivering international programs and services and demonstrating a commitment to international understanding. John Price served as the International Programs Director of the University YMCA from 1950 to 1968, and was also a leader in the Cosmopolitan Club at that time. Through his influence, hundreds of students, staff, faculty, and community members gained a special appreciation for the international richness of Champaign-Urbana and the special gifts that people of many cultures bring to the University of Illinois campus.
This year’s recipient of the John W. Price Award is Ellen Schenk, a senior double majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology and Spanish, and founder of a registered student organization called “Frontiers—International Health Society,” which helps students travel abroad and volunteer in health clinics. Among her many accomplishments, Ellen has volunteered in a medical clinic in Honduras and established medical brigades in schools in rural communities in Ecuador. Ellen’s hard work has led to an increase in international health courses available in the pre-health studies at the U. of I., international development workshops, and a student volunteer trip to work at medical clinics in Peru. Ellen also spreads knowledge about social justice issues by recruiting speakers to discuss economic and health disparities. Overall, she demonstrates to the University of Illinois community why international healthcare is such a critical topic in today’s society that cannot be overlooked.
When Cosmo Club asked Ellen to tell us more about the organization, she replied that “we just had our selection process and were very fortunate to receive 60 applications for the board(!), so are very excited for next year’s leaders.” Ellen will not be on campus next year, but for those interested in more information about the organization, next year’s co-presidents will be Caitlin Carmichael (caitlincarmichael@gmail.com) and Julia Kammel (jkammel2@gmail.com).
Ellen Schenk with friend in Honduras
Description of the Organization
Frontiers—International Health Society is a Registered Student Organization (RSO) that has been active on campus only within the past year. Over the past year, the organization has consisted of an executive board composed of seventeen members and seven different positions, all working together toward the common mission of creating a voice for international health issues on the UIUC campus and local community. Even though the organization is very new, its active board members have set high expectations for the group and have accomplished much within the over the year.
Past events that the group has initiated and sponsored include creating and coordinating two campus-wide development workshops; outreaching to professors to include more international issues in the pre-health curricula; organizing a service trip to Peru for other students to gain first-hand experience with international issues; bringing the Peru experience back to campus through presentations at meetings and at the cultural houses on campus; collaborating with other culture and international-based RSOs to bring understanding to the ties between culture and health; and developing an international health resource database. Priorities for the organization next year revolve around actively involving more non-board members as well as extending outreach efforts to the local community to learn about international health issues through service learning.
Overall, Frontiers—International Health Society stands to show students and local citizens the importance of becoming global citizens, to understand and work toward justice for the issues that circle our globe. The organization strives to show that anyone can be a comrade, willing to care and help, to our neighbors thousands of miles away who struggle without basic necessities, such as health care. Furthermore, by establishing strong awareness efforts directly on campus and utilizing the international resources within our own community, we stand to create opportunities for anyone to truly understand international issues and become a global citizen, despite inability to travel abroad or lack of exposure to international issues previously.
Honduras (photo by Ellen Schenk)