DURHAM, N.C. –Women's swimmer Eneka Lamb received the William J. Griffith Service award, rower Caroline Kiritsy received the Baldwin Scholars Unsung Heroine Award, rower Phoebe Donovan received the Class of 2017 Spirit Award and the Duke Athlete Ally group as selected as the Outstanding New Student Group at the Duke Student Affairs Leadership Awards Banquet Monday.
Recipients of the awards were nominated and voted on by members of the Duke community. The Duke University Student Leadership and Service Awards program is a celebration of leadership and service and an opportunity to recognize a select number of individuals and organizations whose influence and achievements have made a significant impact on University life and beyond.
Lamb, a senior who swims freestyle and backstroke, received the Griffith Service Award for her work with the Swim with the Blue Devils program at Duke. Swim with the Blue Devils is an annual program put on by members of the Duke swimming and diving program that offers one-hour swimming clinics for local Durham youth to learn techniques and safety lessons at no cost. The event, which began in 2006, has spread to integrate all of campus, and Lamb has been instrumental in its development in the Durham community.
Kiritsy, a senior coxswain and captain of the rowing team, received the Unsung Heroine Award, which recognizes a woman who has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to issues that face women at Duke or in the larger community, but whose efforts have not received formal recognition. Kiritsy received the award for her involvement in bringing to campus Athlete Ally, a national organization that aims to raise awareness about homophobia and transphobia in all levels of athletics. Kiritsy and the other members of Athlete Ally, who were also honored at the awards banquet as the best new student group on campus, seek to create a safer space for LGBTQ student-athletes as well as a platform to discuss the programs they face and how to address those.
Donovan, a freshman rower, was given the Class of 2017 Spirit Award, which is presented to the first-year student who has exceeded the role of the typical student in supporting fellow students in athletic, community and club activities.
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