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OCC Newsmakers
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
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OCC Grad Wins Prestigious Brower Award for Environmental Efforts
 Hai Vo, Orange Coast College’s Student of the Year in 2006-07, has been selected as a 2009 Brower Youth Award honoree by the Earth Island Institute for his work as an advocate for sustainable food.
Vo, a 2009 graduate of UC Irvine’s social ecology program, helped organize the “Real Food Challenge” on the UCI campus. The organization is a nationwide, student-based network that advocates use of locally grown and ecologically sound food sources.
Since 2000, the Earth Island Institute, founded by Sierra Club’s first executive director, David Brower, has designated six youths as part of its New Leaders Initiative for their contributions to environmental justice. Each winner will receive $6,000.
Vo was featured in a video that premiered at the Brower Awards ceremony in San Francisco last week. The clip also will be shown on the Public Broadcasting Service and Sundance networks.
This fall Vo is taking some time away from academia, but he will be busy researching his next adventure–participating in a farming apprenticeship program. Next fall he will begin graduate studies in urban agriculture production, policy and education.
As winner of the prestigious $30,000 annual Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, Vo will be eligible for $50,000 annually for postgraduate work. He is considering programs at Tufts University in Boston, New York University, University of Michigan and UC Santa Cruz.
Vo’s parents, who live in Westminster, escaped from Vietnam with his older brother, Sun, who is a graduate of UC San Diego. Vo was born in the United States.
While he was at OCC, Vo was president of the Inter-Club Council, served on the executive board of Associated Students of Orange Coast College and was an active member of the Sierra Club.
With the help of his OCC counselor, Vo decided to attend UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology, following a career path that combines his environmental and social interests.
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