Robert Gourley

First Place
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$10,000 Scholarship and Hearst Medallion

Title: Muslima in Action

Description: Hala Hijazi is the first Arabic Muslim woman to be appointed as a San Francisco human rights commissioner. She has developed a network to support her community of nearly a quarter of a million American Muslims in the Bay Area (Institute for Social Policy and Understanding). This year, election day overlaps with
Ramadan, a holy month of fasting and prayer. Hijazi is forced to balance her faith and her work as she reflects on the challenges facing American Muslims and the hope of a new election cycle.