Leading the way: Three Link scholarship recipients underscore the best of labor

This year’s Eugene P. Link scholarship recipients may have come from profoundly different backgrounds — from Nigeria to China to Nassau County, N.Y. — but they are headed down the same noble path. This unlikely trio shares a relentless determination to stand against oppression and to make this world a better place for everyone.

The 2001 scholarship recipients are: Abayomi Ademuwagun, a junior majoring in marine engineering at SUNY Maritime; Min Kuang, a senior finance major at SUNY Plattsburgh; and Joseph Storch, a senior political science/communications major at SUNY Oswego.

Ademuwagun was born in southern Nigeria into what he describes as an “economically humble, but religious family.” The philosophy of this 28-year-old son of school teachers is simple, yet profound. “I believe that until a man realizes that he lives for others, he has not started to live his life.”

And “live” he has. During his years at the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology in Lagos, Nigeria, Ademuwagun served as chair of Nigerian Youths for Democratic Rights. He and 53 other Nigerian students were arrested and detained for two weeks in July 1993 for their role in organizing rallies and nonviolent resistance against military dictatorship in Nigeria. In October 1994, he was brutally beaten by Nigerian military officers.

Since 1984, he has been actively involved in the humanitarian activities of Rotary International and has earned the organization’s meritorious service, distinguished service and national merit awards. He continues to serve as a member of its affiliate, the Rotaract Club of the United Nations.

Ademuwagun was honored by the Nigerian student union with both the meritorious service award in 1993 and the life membership award in 1995 in recognition of his efforts to improve the living conditions in student hostels.

Granted advanced academic standing based on his education in Nigeria and licensure to sail as a chief engineer, Ademuwagun is extolled as an “excellent student who works doggedly on problems,” by UUPer Gilbert Traub, a professor of mathematics at Maritime.

Ademuwagun has a 3.89 grade-point average.

Kuang has firsthand knowledge of the importance of labor unions. In her native China, this hard-working young woman was a member of the negotiating team for the Labor Union of Proctor & Gamble Ltd., where she was employed for more than three years and where all of the workers are unionized.

Kuang said it was through her experience as a union leader that she learned a simple truth: The Labor Union was the reason employees had full health benefits, insurance coverage and a more competitive compensation package.

At Plattsburgh, Kuang has been actively involved in community service. She has volunteered at a Clinton County nursing home, joined Alternative Spring Break to volunteer in a Baltimore soup kitchen and is a member of the college’s InterVarsity Christian Fellowship club. Kuang said she set a personal goal to persuade at least 20 people to become volunteers during 2001 — the International Year of Volunteers.

As a member of the college’s elite Honors Program, Kuang has proven herself as “mature, motivated and, in every measure, a self-starter,” said UUPer David Mowry, Plattsburgh Honors Program director and a distinguished teaching professor in the department of philosophy. “She (is) a strong, community-oriented person.”

Kuang, who has a grade-point average of 3.75, plans to return to China following graduation.

Storch fondly recalls how his childhood was “peppered with memories of my family’s involvement in unions.” From his grandparents’ staunch support of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union to his father’s front-line picketing with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)/NYSUT, Storch is carrying the torch for the next generation of social activists. He credits his father — a former UFT chapter chair and delegate — with imparting to him the belief that “unions are the last line of defense to protect workers.”

Storch’s commitment to helping others on campus and in his community is proof that those words have not fallen on deaf ears. In addition to writing papers and making presentations, Storch this summer handed out leaflets on Long Island, asking people to urge lawmakers to raise the minimum wage in New York. He has earned a special award from the Oswego Volunteer Ambulance Corps for promoting campus safety and was honored for his work with Students Against Drunk Driving. He received both the Good Deed Award from the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education and the Samuel Mannis Award for community service from Young Israel of North Bellmore.

Storch is actively involved in the Sheldon Leader Program for Campus Leadership, is a delegate to the New York State Student Assembly and continues to serve on the campus Personal Safety Task Force.

Oswego UUPer John Kares Smith, a professor of communication studies, had high praise for Storch: “Not only is he a man of achievement, but he is a man of great promise. ... A scholar, a campus leader, an outstanding human being, a man of character, intelligence, responsibility, judgment and maturity. ... (He) is now and will forever be a credit to this university.”

Storch, of North Merrick, has a grade-point average of 3.77 and plans to attend law school after graduation.

— Karen L. Mattison