We see the spirit of Sullivan Ballou in you-- in your commitment to human rights, in your energy and enthusiasm for helping others, in your determination that the fear and loss of privileges and status you experienced as a young undocumented immigrant would be an inspiration for helping other immigrants rather than a handicap.
Your friends and mentors understandably wonder when you sleep. In addition to being a full-time student, you volunteer at the Immigrant Law Center, work at the Center for New Americans at the law school, and intern for State Senator Patricia Torres Ray. To all these activities you bring your insight, your lucid mind, and your heart. You are a model for both your peers and your professors.
Ana, we are delighted to be able to present you with this award as an acknowledgment of the person you are and the path you have set for yourself. You are receiving the 87th Sullivan Ballou award, and the award list contains a wonderful array of activists, advocates, reformers, teachers, artists, healers and business owners who have merged their hearts and their actions into the wave of spiritual evolution that is making the world a better place. We hope that joining this group will help confirm for you who you are and what you can do. We know you will do great work protecting the rights of immigrants.
Congratulations!
Elissa and Bruce Peterson, Founding Members