Sabyne Pierre 鈥�20 has been awarded a 2018 by , which will provide her with training and resources to advance social change.
She is already immersed in that kind of work at Dartmouth, both on and off campus. Through (SEAD), Pierre mentored 10 high school students at the Bronx School of Science and Mathematics, whose administrators describe her as 鈥渁 bundle of intellectual energy.鈥� Through Dartmouth鈥檚 Center for Social Impact, Pierre interned with , a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that provides mobile showers to the homeless population.
鈥淭hey renovate trucks and retrofit them with showers,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a simple idea, and it dignifies people.鈥�
Pierre says her mother taught all her children to share what little they had with others in need. 鈥淢y mother was a hard worker,鈥� she says, 鈥渞aising six children on her own. She held down three jobs, but still, sometimes we couldn鈥檛 afford food, and we relied on a food pantry. That鈥檚 why, whenever I can, I volunteer in food pantries.鈥�
When Haiti was struck by an earthquake in 2010, Pierre鈥檚 mother took her and her brother to the island nation to help people in crisis. 鈥淥ur family came from Haiti,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd my mother wanted us to see what had happened to their home, so we would know how lucky we were to have a place to live in Newark, N.J. We filled huge containers with items from our local food pantry, and from our home, and we spent the summer just giving things out. My mother was huge on giving back, and would literally give the clothes off her back to someone else who needed them more.鈥�
Her mother died when Pierre was a sophomore in high school. She wants to honor her memory by making the most of her Dartmouth education and the Newman fellowship.
鈥淚 think the fellowship will help me internalize my accomplishments,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ometimes I worry that I am not doing enough, or didn鈥檛 get something right, but my mentors at OPAL () want me to focus more on the fact that someone has given me an award, and that I should accept the opportunity to do something with it.鈥�
Jay Davis 鈥�90, who directs the (FYSEP), says the recognition is well deserved.
鈥淪abyne has a remarkable, effervescent energy, deep compassion for others, an insatiable curiosity, and a conviction that she will leave things鈥攁nd people鈥攂etter than she found them,鈥� says Davis.
鈥淪he combines ebullience with seriousness of purpose鈥攁 rare and powerful mixture. Our community is fortunate to have her special blend of empathy, creativity, and fierce commitment to issues of social justice.鈥�
Charlotte Albright can be reached at charlotte.e.albright@dartmouth.edu.
