The Homer Rice Award recognizes an HSOC graduate student who, through volunteerism, has fostered a sense of community in the School of History and Sociology, as well as broader communities. Named in honor of Dr. Homer Rice, Georgia Tech’s former athletic director, the award offers a modest monetary stipend as well as recognition on the HSOC award wall in the Old CE Building.

For the past several years, Renee has been active in improving the experience of graduate students through service in HSOC, the Campus Office of Graduate Studies, and the GT Graduate Student Government Association (SGA). Renee currently serves as the Graduate Student Representative in HSOC. Within SGA, she is the HSOC senator and serves on the Grad Life and Mental Health Joint Allocation Committee working to make necessary structural changes on campus, especially in terms of health and well-being initiatives. Also within SGA, she chairs the Restructuring Committee, which evaluates and reforms the policies and practices of SGA in collaboration with other graduate and undergraduate leaders. In addition to all of this, Renee is a representative on the Ivan Allen College Graduate Advisory Board, and for two years, has been a leader for the newly formed Grad Groups program in the Office of Graduate Studies that offers first year students an extended, semester-long orientation to make deeper connections on and across campus and make the most out of their grad careers.

Congratulations on this well-deserved award, Renee!