The P. J. and Hilda W. Hill Award were established from a gift from P. J. Hill, a 1920 graduate of Indiana University. The $5000 award is presented to the outstanding senior on the IU Bloomington campus who has done the most to “better race relationships on the IU campus” during their undergraduate career.
For 2023, we would like to honor Tateana Cutter and Ky Freeman with the P.J. and Hilda W. Hill Award for supporting and enhancing diversity and inclusion through their work at Indiana University.
Tateana Cutter
Tateana Cutter is graduating from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and Policy and a minor in Law and Public Policy. In 2021, Tateana received the OVPDEMA Carrie Parker Taylor scholarship, reserved for one high achieving first-generation student. Tateana served in various executive leadership roles in the Black Student Union, where she coordinated both Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Denim Day, an annual action and awareness event dedicated to speaking out on misconceptions surrounding sexual violence. She also was a member of the 2019-2020 Civic Leaders Center cohort and as Director of Academics within the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Tau Chapter, in which her catalytic work in creating and implementing an academic plan creation led to the chapter receiving the 2022 Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life’s Academic Excellence Award. Outside of her extracurricular activities, Tateana is an O’Neill Honors student and is conducting research on the effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency on maternal mental health and well-being in Affordable Care Act (ACA)-expansive and non-ACA expansive states. Following her graduation in May, Tateana will attend the University of Emory School of Law to receive her juris doctorate degree.
Acknowledgments
When reflecting on those that have impacted her most during her time at IU, Tateana said:
I would first like to thank God for guiding my steps and aligning my purpose. I would also like to extend the biggest thank you to my mom and stepdad for their continual love and support, and for instilling in me the drive to persist through whatever obstacles may arise. I would also like to thank Professor Paul Helmke and Professor John Karaagac, for not only supporting me academically and professionally since my first year at IU, but also for taking a special interest in my development and success.
Ky Freeman
Ky Freeman graduated in December with a Bachelor of Sciences in Law and Public Policy from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He served as the President of the Black Student Union during 2020, at the height of the outrage against the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and thousands of Black civilians by members of American law enforcement. He would go on to become a community activitist, organizing the ‘Enough is Enough’ Black Lives Matter march and protests – one of the largest demonstrations in Bloomington in decades. He would later run for and get elected as the President of IU Student Government, where he led with radical love and brought kinship to the greater IU Community through his student government policy efforts.
Acknowledgments
When reflecting on those that have impacted him most during his time at IU, Ky said:
I would like to thank first and foremost my mother and older sister for always keeping it real with me! Secondly I’d like to thank Dr. Monica Johnson, Brian Richardson, Maqubè Reese, Carl Darnell, and Sam Young for molding me into the stylish, young, and innovative revolutionary that I am.