Senior Brittany Banh, who serves as president of the Student Alliance for Violence Education (SAVE), is the 2024 recipient of The University of Tulsa’s Marcy Lawless Service Award.
At each year’s undergraduate commencement ceremony, a student who has shown a commitment to service is honored with the Lawless award for their selfless acts. Recipients exemplify a generous spirit, creativity, vision, and pursuit of excellence in their service to others on campus and in the Tulsa community.
“I think that it is important to give back to the community in order to create an accommodating and welcoming world for us to live in,” Banh said. “Receiving the Marcy Lawless Service Award is a big honor.”
Banh, who will receive a bachelor’s degree with majors in psychology and women’s and gender studies and a minor in early childhood intervention, has been involved with organizations providing service, advocacy, and outreach. Whether working to destigmatize food insecurity, raise awareness to prevent sexual violence, or help students register to vote, she embraces community engagement as a valued part of her college experience.
“As a first-year student, I looked for organizations that promoted service opportunities. Through those activities, I was able to discover the social issues that I am passionate about,” she said.
With SAVE, Banh led fundraising efforts, planned educational programs, and expanded the scope of the “Breaking Ground Monologues” on campus to include more voices as a means of violence prevention.
Her hard work and commitment have been recognized as a George Kaiser Family Foundation Summer Impact Intern with Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS) and as a D’Arcy Fellow at The Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice.
During her time as president of the service-learning organization Cane Breaks, Banh coordinated volunteer events to facilitate student engagement in Tulsa.
“Being involved in the community creates a sense of accountability in caring for one another. I think that serving others creates a better culture of care in a world where we see a bunch of social inequalities. Being engaged in service is vital in connecting with the space that you occupy. Overall, I believe service makes you a better person for yourself and others,” Banh said.
In her role as a university peer mentor, Banh connected with new students and offered guidance as they adjusted during their first year of college life. Her advice to students who want to get involved in the community is to take time to discover your interests. “Identify what you are passionate about and follow that,” she said.
After graduation, Banh, of Bartlesville, plans to continue her service in the Tulsa community by volunteering and will utilize a gap year to apply to clinical psychology graduate programs while pursuing her commitment to making a difference in the lives of others.