Tiffany Sanders '11 has been awarded a Davis Peace Project Fellowship program grant of $10,000. A Posse Foundation scholar from Boston, she plans to use her to project award to create open enrollment, free karate classes at the Orchard Gardens Community Center in Dorchester, Mass. Sanders’ proposed program is designed to combat youth violence by offering students an alternative enrichment program they can engage in during peak times of trouble and harm.
In its fourth year, Davis Projects for Peace invites undergraduates at the American colleges and universities in the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design grassroots projects that they will implement during the summer of 2011. The objective is to encourage and support today's motivated youth to create and try out their own ideas for building peace. Each of the more than 100 projects will receive $10,000 in funding.
In her proposal Sanders wrote “With violence steadily on the rise in urban communities nationwide, it begs the question: what can be done to promote non-violence and instill peace in those communities? A martial arts program will offer adolescents an opportunity to engage in a physical activity that places emphasis on discipline, self empowerment, personal boundaries, safety, and self confidence. Students will develop a positive outlook and mindset that is conducive to the development of growth and character building.
She explained, “Growing up, my father, a Black Belt in karate, taught me martial arts. Through martial arts, I learned peaceful approaches, gained self-esteem, and built my life around the principles of discipline, courage, and patience. My dream has been to bring these lessons to my urban community that needs it most. I studied martial arts under my father for three years, and continued martial arts coursework at Hamilton College. At Hamilton, I studied Chinese to further engage myself in the art through the exploration of language as it relates to martial arts.
Sanders studied abroad in Beijing, China, in 2010, where she looked at different forms of martial arts. “I'm passionate about martial arts as a discipline and tool for peace,” she said . “In Fall 2011, I will begin law school and I will continue, as an avocation, to promote peace through the study of karate throughout my life.”
Sanders, a government major, has been an officer in Hamilton’s Black Latino Student Union since 2007. She is a resident advisor, a multicultural ambassador host for Hamilton’s admissions office and was inducted into the Doers and Thinkers honor society in 2008.
Last summer Sanders served as co-director for the Dorchester chapter of Let’s Get Ready, a national organization whose mission is to expand college access for motivated, low-income high school students by providing free SAT preparation and college admission counseling. In summer 2009 she was assistant director of summer teen programs for the Vine Street Community Center in Boston in 2009. Sanders has interned at the law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP in Los Angeles, and for the Boston Bar Association.
Tiffany Sanders '11 is a graduate of John D. O'Bryant School of Math & Science
