Wrestling's Watterson & Rugby's Peak Win 2015 Alfred H. Joslin Awards
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Brown.edu: The Alfred H. Joslin Award
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University seniors Billy Watterson (Wrestling) and Ariel Sydney Peak (Rugby) have won Alfred H. Joslin Awards from Brown for their work in the community, as announced by the university on Friday.
The Joslin Awards recognize a small group of seniors who have contributed in a very significant way to the quality of student life at Brown. Award winners generally demonstrate a wide breadth of involvement during their campus years as well as substantial depth in one or more areas. Through their leadership and involvement they have not only enhanced their own liberal education, they have also provided services, programs and other opportunities for involvement to their peers, thus enhancing the learning environment for all students.
Seeing a need to bring more opportunities to Providence's public middle schools, Watterson took a year off from his studies in 2013-14 to found the non-profit Beat the Streets Providence, an organization which brings wrestling programs to urban youth.
A native of Pound Ridge, N.Y., Watterson began his initiative at Nathan Bishop Middle School in the fall of 2013 and expanded it to UCAP Middle School during the 2013-14 academic year. For 2014-15, Watterson has spread his program to five schools, including Gilbert Stuart Middle School, Roger Williams Middle School, and Del Sesto Middle School.
At a time when public schools have cut budgets across the country, Watterson has helped bring structure and a positive environment to the after-school setting at Providence's middle schools. Beat the Streets offers the only opportunity in Providence public schools for youth to compete in Rhode Island Middle School athletics, and the organization also provides pre-practice tutoring, mentoring, guest speakers, and other programming for its students.
Returning to the mat for the 2014-15 season, Watterson earned First Team All-Ivy honors at 125 lbs. and also gained Winter Academic All-Ivy accolades. The John Jay High School product led the Bears in dual wins (12), dual EIWA wins (eight), and dual points (48) while placing fifth at the EIWA Championships.
A double major in Africana Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies, Peak was the 2014 recipient of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Summer Fellowship for her work specifically with the LGBT and Anti-Trafficking Initiatives. She has been involved with the Urban Arts both as a Group Facilitator for the Untitlement Project, a six-week long art-making project aimed at unpacking social injustices through active inquiry.
The Santa Ana, Costa Rica native has an unparalled work ethic on the rugby pitch and is widely regarded as a leader on Brown's successful rugby team, who is competing in its inaugural season as a varsity sport.
The Joslin Award is given in the name of Judge Alfred H. Joslin, a 1936 Brown graduate, a member of the Corporation from 1963-1985, and a member of the Board of Fellows. Because of this extraordinary service to the Brown community, his initial chairmanship of the Corporation Committee on Student Life, and his abiding concern for the interests and welfare of undergraduates, it is fitting that this award should be designated in his honor.
May 2015 Alfred H. Joslin Award Winners
Michelle Bailhe
Sarah Day Dayon
William Furuyama
Mashfiq Hasan
Rachel Himes
Samuel Kase
Abishek Kulshreshtha
Ariel Sydney Peak
Maahika Srinivasan
William Watterson
Team Award: Erin Kelley and Taylor Lanzet
