04/17/2025
Our 3rd award - The Fannie Bigelow Prize!
This award goes to an undergraduate upperclassman chosen on the basis of her individuality, her ability to form and express fearlessly, with conviction and sound judgment, her opinions on vital topics.
Raquel Williams ’25
Raquel Williams is a senior at the University of Rochester, double majoring in Health Policy and Black Studies with a minor in Political Science. In addition to academics, Raquel has been an integral member of the varsity basketball team while also using their platform to advocate for equity and inclusion. Recognizing the need for community and support among Black student-athletes, she founded and is the President of the Black Student Athlete Coalition, fostering community, mentorship, and systemic change on campus. This led to her being the first U of R delegate and current president of the UAA Black Letter winning Athlete Coalition (UAA BLAC), the first Division 3 cross-conference Black student athlete group.
Juliana Montes ’25
Juliana Montes is a first generation Mexican American student from Phoenix Arizona. She is an ECO scholar, Kearns Scholar, and Brady scholar who has held several positions on the Spanish and Latina Student Association (SALSA), Spanish and Latino Students In training for Awareness (SALSITA), and the Frederick Douglass Leadership House (DLH), some of those being the Vice President of SALSA, and Co-president of SALSITA. If that is not enough, she has also been working 3 campus jobs while in these roles. She is a communications assistant at the Center for Community Engagement, a community ambassador at Innovation Square through Reslife, and a speaking fellow for the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program, where she is also currently the President of the Speaking Fellows. Juliana has been able to do all this while also creating her own interdisciplinary major in Cognitive Ethnomusicology.
