Hamilton and Nielson are the 2024 recipients of the which recognizes innovative ideas with the potential to improve educational practices and student achievement.

Their findings argue that decades of public funding cuts have crippled public universities’ ability to serve racially and economically disadvantaged students, with schools enrolling the most marginalized students receiving the fewest resources.

Hamilton and Nielsen pinpoint three major developments in higher education over the past 50 years that contribute to a separate and unequal system: demographic shifts in student enrollment at public universities, significant cuts to public funding for higher education and the decline of race-based affirmative action during this period.

“These issues are deeply interconnected,” Hamilton said.

The book identifies a cyclical pattern of racial resource allocation within universities, driven by the three historical dynamics. The cycle has five elements:

• The social construct of 鈥榤erit鈥�
• The racial segregation in higher education
• The racialized organizational hierarchies
• Unequal access to private resources and
• Inadequate student support

鈥淲e see a cycle whereby resources are allocated through mechanisms that distribute them along racial lines,鈥� Nielson explained. 鈥淭he cycle channels educational resources to universities that serve more privileged student populations and starves universities serving primarily racially and economically disadvantaged students.鈥澨�

Hamilton and Nielson also emphasized the importance of reminding the public that higher education is a public good, benefiting everyone, not just a private commodity.

鈥淭hat kind of thinking traps you because you can鈥檛 step out of it and think about what it looks like to actually design institutions for social good rather than for people we think have successfully competed in the market to attain those services or goods,鈥� Hamilton said.

The Grawemeyer Award in 成人直播 has been presented yearly since 1989. The annual $100,000 prizes also honor seminal ideas in music, world order, psychology and religion.

“Our hope is that the book can be used by universities with limited resources to fight for more support,” Hamilton and Nielsen said. “The Grawemeyer Award is a powerful platform to amplify our message that public universities need public funding. We are thankful for this recognition.”

The $100,000 Grawemeyer prizes also honor seminal ideas in ,听,听听补苍诲听. Winners visit Louisville to accept their awards and give free talks on their winning ideas.

.听

Erin, 22, is a senior who will graduate in December. Her double major is in anthropology and sustainability, and she has worked as the university鈥檚 Zero Waste intern for the UofL Sustainability Council since fall 2017. Henny, 19, is a sophomore who majors in anthropology and sociology and has been the sustainability office鈥檚 communications intern since fall 2017.

They recently founded a chapter at the University of Louisville, making it the second chapter in the state. The national Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a student-led effort with 230 chapters nationwide aimed at combating hunger and food waste. Bellarmine University started Kentucky鈥檚 first FRN chapter in 2014 and has donated more than 10,000 pounds of food.

鈥淲e are so thrilled to have UofL join the national movement to transform food waste into social justice,鈥� said Justin Mog, UofL鈥檚 assistant to the provost for sustainability. 鈥淚t is exactly these kinds of efforts which we had always dreamed would grow out of our Sustainability Internship program and our new sustainability major. I鈥檓 so proud of all the hard work Erin and Henny have put into this and delighted to welcome Erin in December as the very first sustainability alum at UofL.鈥�

Erin and Henny were joined recently by 20-year-old junior Melissa Sternberg, who transferred from Bellarmine University, where she was already involved in its FRN chapter. Melissa is also a sustainability major and is the sustainability assistant in the housing office.

The students are dedicated to environmentalism and social change. When Brian Barnes, a philosophy professor who runs the EcoReps program, brought a student from Bellarmine to UofL to talk about the FRN, Erin and Henny wanted to get involved. They soon became partners and friends.

鈥淩ecovering unsold food and delivering it to those who need it not only fulfills a need in the community, it keeps food waste out of landfills,鈥� Erin said. 鈥淪ustainability is as much about social issues as it is about environmentalism.鈥�

So far this year, the students have recovered more than 1,000 pounds of food and delivered it to St. Vincent de Paul or Wayside Christian Mission. For the most part, the food has consisted of bagels, pastries and salads from Einstein鈥檚, but leftover fresh mushrooms and potatoes from summer orientation events were also donated by Aramark, UofL鈥檚 dining services contractor. The students will train anyone who wants to participate using FRN training materials.

鈥淲e get a text from Einstein鈥檚 letting us know they have food for us to take,鈥� Henny said. 鈥淥ne of us goes to get it. We package it in paper lawn waste bags because they are not plastic and they are big. We weigh it and just drive it over. Sometimes we鈥檙e busy, but we do our best. We are always looking for more volunteers.鈥�

Among other things, affiliating with the FRN will help the students formalize the process with rules that ensure food safety and track progress.

Erin and Henny have recently secured a space for a food pantry on Belknap Campus (tentatively to be located in the Student Activities Center) for students, staff and faculty. The pantry, expected to open later this semester, will be in addition to the Sustainability Council鈥檚 Free Store in Unitas Tower.

Their project is in line with research conducted by Sara Goldrick-Rab, UofL鈥檚 2018 Grawemeyer Award winner in education. Goldrick-Rab鈥檚 2016 book, 鈥淧aying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid and the Betrayal of the American Dream,鈥� discusses the soaring costs of higher education that often results in food and housing insecurity for students.

Look for the students at this year鈥檚 Sustainability Fair Oct. 24 in the Humanities Quad for more information. The fair is part of UofL鈥檚 annual celebration of Sustainability Week, with more events .

For more information about sustainability at the University of Louisville, .