UK selects winners of Sullivan award for humanitarian efforts

The University of Kentucky awarded its 2016 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallions for humanitarian service to two UK seniors and a Lexington activist.

Senior Caroline Engle will receive two degrees from UK in May, a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and environmental science, and another in agriculture economics. She also is director of operations for the Student Sustainability Council, president of UK’s Greenthumb Environmental Club, student representative on the Presidential Sustainability Advisory Committee, and Student Government senator-at-large.

In addition, Engle is a member of the activist group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and was summer program director for the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition. She is national chairwoman of the Sierra Club Student Coalition and was a youth delegate at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change.

Senior Jason Schubert is executive director of UK’s Center for Community Outreach and is a site leader for Alternative Spring Breaks, most recently for a one-week environmental project in the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador. He is a community and leadership development major in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

In 2013-14, Schubert and his Alternative Spring Breaks team gained recognition as the American College Personnel Association-College Educators international program of the year. In 2014, he was honored with the Kentucky Ambassador Award, which recognizes a Kentuckian for exceptional community service outside the physical footprint of the state.

Schubert is involved with FUSION, UK’s annual day of service by incoming freshmen, and with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America.

Tanya Torp won the Sullivan citizen award for her work as a local activist, community organizer, motivational speaker, trainer and entrepreneur. She is the full-time director of Step by Step Inc., which supports young single mothers, ages 13 to 24, with training and resources. Torp founded Be Bold Inc., which encourages girls and young women between ages 9 and 18 to break stereotypes and become leaders in their communities.

She is vice chairwoman of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and works for food justice in Lexington’s East End neighborhood through GleanKY.

“For nearly 90 years, the University of Kentucky has honored two outstanding students and one impactful citizen for their work in developing communities and serving others both near and far from the Bluegrass region,” UK President Eli Capilouto said. “This year’s recipients exhibit the best qualities of servant leadership and have garnered the deep respect of their peers.”

UK first presented the Sullivan Awards in 1927 and is one of several Southern universities that bestow the honor, sponsored by the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 11:52 AM with the headline "UK selects winners of Sullivan award for humanitarian efforts."