In June 2022, Tara Saleh, a global and regional studies major with interdisciplinary honors and a focus on human rights, was selected for the flagship Jackson School Leadership Award, which comes with a $5,000 prize. The award, annually given during the Jackson School Spring Convocation ceremony, goes to a graduating student who has demonstrated outstanding skills in leadership, scholarship, and service.
Jackson School Leadership Award 2022 recipient Tara Saleh, June 11, 2022
It also comes with the honor of addressing the graduating class during the ceremony itself. Saleh, who graduated with a GPA of 3.95 in her major and was named a UW Honors Undergraduate Scholar, spoke about her experience discovering injustices in the world, emphasizing that, “The world of healthcare and human rights has only become more infuriating and polarized, increasingly embedded and institutionalized, and therefore more dangerous.”
During her time at the Jackson School, Saleh helped launch ‘Observatorio,’ a project to monitor the efficacy and compliance of a Washington state sanctuary law for immigrant groups and received several fellowships with the UW’s Center for Human Rights for research.
“We need to realize in order to do something truly wonderful with this degree, it demands creativity,” Saleh said. “And that is what makes this program special… I ask, that when we leave this institution, for us to be creative, to work hard and the intention to keep it in check, to not give in to the stagnant and the mundane because this generation was tasked with more … because the creativity to imagine what we want in this world is our step forward and there are opportunities every day, so seize them as small as they may be.”
