Five student researchers have won awards of $500 each for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion through their work.

Anna Beneteau, a master’s student in kinesiology; Madeline Jones, a third-year Juris Doctor student; Willow Key, who graduated in June with a master’s degree in history; and Fallon Mitchell, a doctoral candidate in kinesiology; are among this year’s recipients of the Student Leadership Awards for EDI in Research. The fifth student declined to be recognized.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate the outstanding efforts of these students who are making a real-world difference on campus and in the community through their research and knowledge mobilization,” said Shanthi Johnson, vice-president, research and innovation. “Advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility is important work, and these students are taking the lead.”

The Student Leadership Awards for EDI in Research have been sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation since 2021. Students are nominated by their supervisors for work that advances inclusiveness, anti-racism, accessibility, Indigenization, and social justice causes.

About this year’s winners:

Beneteau is a master’s student in the Faculty of Human Kinetics. She co-ordinates the Adapted Physical Exercise (APEX) program which offers customized sport and fitness sessions to sessions to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants are paired with kinesiology students and, in addition to co-ordinating the program, Beneteau works one-on-one with select participants. Beneteau’s research focuses on APEX programming. She is conducting qualitative interviews with past APEX volunteers to increase understanding of how quality volunteer experiences may enhance the effectiveness of community programming and promote the social inclusion of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This study has the potential to make an important contribution to the fields of adapted physical exercise, disability, and sport for social change.

Jones is a third-year Juris Doctor student who plans to pursue a career in child protection law. Through research with law professor Tess Sheldon, she has looked at authoritative materials of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerning the duty of state parties to consult disabled people. She is the president of the Disability Student Law Society of Windsor and has participated in the Mental Health Justice Clinic in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She has also been a student intern to professor Laverne Jacobs at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva, Switzerland.

Key is a master’s graduate in history who has worked to give the local Black community its rightful place in the historical narrative of Windsor and Essex County. As an undergraduate, her research delved into postwar interracial adoption policy in Canada. As a graduate student, Key became the lead researcher on the McDougall Street Corridor project which tells the story of a once-vibrant Black neighourhood in downtown Windsor destroyed through urban redevelopment policy. Her current position as a researcher for historical services agency Know History contributes to larger efforts to redress injustices against Indigenous people. She is currently a member of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, and the Association of Black Women Historians.

Mitchell is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology who, through her volunteer work and research, has demonstrated a commitment to improving accessibility and inclusion for people with a disability. She has volunteered as a youth accessibility leader with Connections Early Years Family Centre to successfully attain a grant which funded the installation of an accessible ramp. She has also volunteered with Parkinson Society Southwestern Ontario and Community Living Windsor, gaining insight into the needs and capabilities of diverse populations. Currently, Mitchell’s research, supervised by Paula van Wyk, aims to understand accessibility, usability, and inclusion within fitness and recreational facilities.