Applications are now open for the Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Award, which was established at Simon Fraser University in 2007 through the generous contributions of the Institute for the Humanities at SFU, the Thakore Endowment, and the India Club. The purpose of this award is to recognize and honour those SFU students who, in the spirit of Gandhi’s work, have been active in voluntary community service in areas related to peace, justice, and human rights.

Voluntary service may include any voluntary service that contributes toward the betterment of the human condition: health-related and caring services, literacy and training programs, peer group assistance, work with peace organizations, social justice initiatives, community building services, anti-violence programs, anti-poverty programs, and local, national, and international programs that address issues related to peace, justice, and human rights.

The Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Award is valued at $1,500 and will be granted annually to a current or newly admitted full-time SFU student in good academic standing on the basis of demonstrated community service and leadership. Application deadline is August 31 of each year. 

All applicants must meet the following criteria:

Be a new or current full-time undergraduate student at SFU.

Must be in good academic standing and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 at SFU. In the case that the student is a first-term or transfer student, he/she must possess an equivalent secondary school or college standing.

Registered in a minimum of 9 units of standard graded courses in the fall term.

Applications must include:

A 1-page description of the student’s volunteer work, which includes why the specific volunteer work was chosen, the student’s experience as a volunteer, and the effectiveness or impact of their volunteer work

At least one letter of reference (must be emailed directly from referee) from a person in the organization or group with which the student volunteered

A resume that includes all of the student’s paid and volunteer work to date

Copy of university transcript (advising transcript accepted)

Electronic application only. Please forward the application package to insthum@sfu.ca.

For further information, please contact Huyen Pham.For more information about the history of this award and its past recipients, please visit http://gandhijayanti.com/.