APIA’s Jamelah Jacob ’21 receives Monroe Prize
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by Dave Johnson | W&M News
When she came to William & Mary in the fall of 2017, Jamelah Jacob knew the demographics. About 8% of the student body’s population was Asian, and less than 1% was Filipino.
nurture your community,” said Jacob, who is set to graduate in the spring. “What this work has largely been is being there for my community. That became more significant to me when I entered college.
Which to Jacob, who would major in Asian & Pacific Islander American studies along with public policy, only meant she had work to do.
“It took me that long to make the connection between my identity and my community and find ways to be involved. I think that’s a common experience for children of immigrants. We grow up having these different pressures to act a certain way or suppress our cultural identity, and it really took until college to find all these
“Knowing it’s a predominantly white institution comes with the realization that you have to create your community and
places that welcomed it.” Nearly four years after getting started, Jacob has been awarded the 2021 James Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership. Since 2005, the honor has gone to “a student who has demonstrated sustained leadership of an unusual quality, leadership combined with initiative, character and an unfailing commitment to leveraging the assets of the William & Mary community to address the needs of our society.” The award will be acknowledged during the Charter Day ceremony Feb. 11. Because of the pandemic, that will be done virtually. Jacob is in select company. “Since meeting Jamelah on her first year at William & Mary, her potential for superior excellence had always been apparent,” a professor wrote in a nomination letter. “To be clear and emphatic, she belongs to the top 1% of students I have worked with since teaching university level starting in 1998.” Another professor wrote, “As an educator, I am happy to be able to provide this recommendation for such a deserving student. I have a great amount of respect for her and truly believe that she is a deserving prize recipient.” Jacob, who graduated from Lake Braddock Secondary School in Northern Virginia, is a firm believer that classroom should meet community. APIA Studies, she said, has taught her about race, justice and systems of oppression and has helped her make that connection. Among Jacob’s many activities on campus, she’s the APIA studies chair of the Asian American Student Initiative. She’s also a programming assistant with the Center for Student Diversity and editor-in-chief of Art & Hatsuye, the official journal of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Studies program.
Jamelah posing with the James Monroe Prize in Civic Leardership. Photo by Richard Thompson.
What consumes most of Jacob’s time is
