Nominated by Marcy Burstiner, Victoria Sama, Deidre Pike, Jessie Cretser-Hartenstein, Kirby Moss, Andrea Juarez, Josh Meisel, Vince Biondi, Renee Byrd, Michiro Sugata and Sara Hart

Shortly after his arrival at HSU, Tony founded the Formerly Incarcerated Students Club (FISC), which advocates and provides a support network for students who come out of prison and those who have family members in the criminal justice system. He currently serves as FISC president. One thing that immediately strikes us about Tony is the pure passion he carries with him in all his tasks. Whether he is conducting an interview on the expanse of the carceral state or standing in solidarity with protestors at local rallies, he approaches the activity with a humble conviction. He believes in what he is doing and he knows what he stands for; perhaps most importantly, he is constantly looking to build bridges and expand the scope of people involved in justice-related issues. His work brings together students of diverse ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. Students in FISC, for example, come from diverse multicultural backgrounds and across majors and meet in the African American Academic Center for Excellence.

Tony was one of the head organizers of the week-long Reentry Forum at HSU, a campus-wide forum on issues related to mass incarceration and reentry. The forum brought leaders from diverse backgrounds to the HSU campus in February for valuable exchanges in dialogue with our campus community. Tony has been working to establish a chapter of Project Rebound at HSU, which helps formerly incarcerated students transition from prison to college campuses. In fall 2019, Tony worked directly with Religious Studies faculty and the office of Community-Based Learning to include FISC as an available service learning community partner for students enrolled in RS 300 Living Myths. Under (but without the need for) faculty direction, he served as site supervisor, affording six undergraduate students the opportunity to work directly on the establishment of Project Rebound, as well as on planning for future campus events.

Tony is working as a photographer and videographer for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, a non-profit organization out of Sacramento, on a documentary about Pelican Bay State Prison. He made a trip to the prison in January and filmed the graduation ceremony for inmates from the prison’s notorious SHU. This was a rare opportunity for the prison to allow cameras in this area, and Tony was making history as the cameraman. Tony is creative, introspective and empathetic. Tony models student activism, and it is an honor for the 11 faculty members of three departments to nominate Tony for this prestigious award.