Established by colleagues and family of Fred E. Baker, the Fred Baker Ethics Award identifies students who embody this long-time Seattle advertising executive’s commitment to ethical practice, leadership, and civic engagement. Below are snippets from each recipient’s nomination letter written by one or more faculty members:
Autumn 2014 recipients
Ashley Stewart, graduated Winter 2015, Communication (Journalism)
“Ashley’s resume is full of the work that she’s done for KING 5, Puget Sound Business Journal, The Seattle Times, The Everett Daily Herald, and her volunteer service to the Society of Professional Journalists, but it is her tireless service to other journalists that earns her this nomination. Her every word and action is positive and full of the can-do attitude that makes her a leader to her peers and other journalists.”
“Most of all, Ashley embodies civil engagement in her work and study. Her journalism covers local political issues and community debates across many platforms, and she is dedicated to understanding diverse community problems, especially human trafficking and homelessness. Her name and face are familiar to public figures in many disciplines, and for a reason. She is knowledgeable, ethical, and an excellent leader.”
“Ashley consistently prefers internships and stories that will add to productive civic engagement for communities and individual readers. She is fearless in her story selection, not for self-aggrandizement, but in order to inform readers in important issues. For example, she compelled lawmakers to hold hearings while covering health care for the Puget Sound Business Journal, worked on policy-related data projects for InvestigateWest, and she examined national implications for local politics as a stringer for Al Jazeera English.”
Adrian Alarilla, senior, Communication
“Adrian is both a thoughtful and generous member of his community. His creative work and his organizational work are both committed to social justice. By seeking alternatives to hierarchical relationships and engaging with both the intellect and the heart he seeks to affirm the experience of people whose history and culture have been threatened by waves of colonization.”
Three of Adrian’s projects include: a short film, “To Manong Carlos” (To Brother Carlos), relating Carlos Bulosan with the contemporary Filipino American experience; his first feature-length documentary film, “Where We Are Now,” detailing the lives of Filipinos in seven different countries; and initiating the Diwa Film Festival, a celebration of Filipino and Filipino American films in conjunction with the Pagdiriwang Festival held at the Seattle Center.
Winter 2015 recipients
Karla Ciccia, senior, International Studies (Latin America and Caribbean) and Communication
“In addition to her outstanding academic trajectory, Karla has made a commitment to traveling to distinct parts of the world and understanding different manifestations of culture. She has come back, for instance this summer from visiting her family in Peru, with not just stories about a fun time spent – but also an awareness and a dedication to understanding the on-going issues of politics and globalization that impacts Peru in distinct ways.”
“Karla and I talk continuously how to transform her experience at University of Washington into a form of service for others. Her vision is broad. She is aware of issues of both her communities and others, and she wants to commit to being a civil servant working in international communities.”
Olivia LaFond, senior, Communication
“Olivia is an outstanding Communication major, who is also in the UW Honors program. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to ethical practice, leadership, and civil engagement in many ways throughout her time at UW, through service learning as well as her involvement with national and international health-related organizations.”
“One way Olivia has demonstrated commitment to ethical practice is through her choices to integrate her academic studies with multiple service learning positions and internships in health- and justice-oriented NGOs, and to write outstanding seminar papers on the intersections between them.”
Olivia has worked with the following organizations through class projects, internships, and volunteer work: Seattle Against Slavery, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Haiti Babi, GlobeMed, and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines.
Spring 2015 recipient
Shanna Larson, senior, Communication and International Studies
“Shanna has established an exceptional track record of ethical practice, leadership, and civic engagement both before and during her time at the UW in the realms of human rights, services for homeless women, and anti-human trafficking work.”
She is currently interning for the UW Human Rights Center, and for four months in 2014 volunteered as a project manager for the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues. Since 2013, Shanna has volunteered regularly as the overnight supervisor of an overflow women’s shelter site from the hours of 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.