Robert Barker/University Photography

David Angeles '13 accepts the Perkins Prize for International Harmony and Understanding on behalf of the DREAM Team in Anabel Taylor Hall.

The 18th annual James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony was presented April 4 to the Cornell DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) Team.

Honorable mentions went to the Women of Color Coalition and to the Cornell Asian Pacific Islander Student Union (CAPSU).

The Cornell DREAM Team was credited with foreseeing the need to support and raise awareness of undocumented students at Cornell, which not only includes students from the Latino community but also, the group stressed, from communities around the world.

"Immigration is one of the most contentious and important topics in the world today," the students wrote in their application for the prize. "Our hope is to enrich the Cornell experience so that students are well-prepared to join the discourse on immigration."

Cornell accepts students regardless of immigration status, which "shows that they deserve the same education as the rest of the community. Inclusiveness, regardless of immigration status, is a common value we promote."

Robert Barker/University Photography

Trustee Emeritus Thomas Jones '69 speaks during the reception.

The group was cited for programming and publicity to support and raise awareness of undocumented Cornell students. It spearheaded, for example, raising $10,000 in one week for an undocumented Asian student to allow him to complete his Cornell education. It has also focused on passing resolutions in the Student Assembly to support undocumented students and for urging the Cornell administration to create safe spaces for these students.

The Women of Color Coalition's Women of Color Conference, "Where's My Movement?" held Nov. 12, 2011, was cited for building pride and working to "give voice and strength to experiences that are often marginalized, fostering self-reflection and awareness of issues that affect women of color within and outside of Cornell," according to Women of Color's application.

The conference, attended by 90 Cornellians, "mobilized groups throughout campus who were interested in examining the intersection of being a woman and a person of color," the group wrote.

CAPSU was recognized for continuing the application for byline funding and for expanding Asia Night, the annual cultural show by the Cornell Asian and Asian American community, to include groups across campus. More than 1,100 persons attended the March 3 event. Byline funding gave the group "an opportunity to bring students together to discuss minority issues in a new sustained way" and to "become a catalyst for minority groups to discuss how students of color should be represented at Cornell," CAPSU's application read.

Provost Kent Fuchs presented the awards. Also speaking at the event were Kent Hubbell '69, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students; and Thomas W. Jones '69, trustee emeritus, who established the Perkins Prize in 1995 to honor James A. Perkins, Cornell president, 1963-69.