Yen Dinh, Impact Academy
College: University of California, Los Angeles
Yen is Impact Academy’s 2017 winner of the Jackie Robinson Scholarship Award.
When a student presents their graduate defense with excellence, originality and a Samurai sword, you know they’re something special.
Yen is an academic powerhouse, to be sure. Even more impressive, though, is their drive to make change. They consistently respond to oppression and intolerance exactly how we hope all of our students do: with a fierce commitment to educate their community and fight for change. For a Civil Rights Project, Yen wrote an incredible essay on the LGBTQ movement, analyzing Harvey Milk’s rhetoric as well as the movement’s strategies and impact — and did so with passion. They were also a leader in Impact’s Gay Straight Alliance, as well as a volunteer for Our Space, a local organization in Hayward supporting the LGBTQ community. They also helped organize Impact’s Week of Acceptance, which included a campaign for the gender neutral bathrooms on campus. We know Yen will always speak out for what they believe and will always be a role model and leader in the community.
UCLA is lucky to have Yen join their campus this Fall!
ABOUT THE JACKIE ROBINSON SCHOLARSHIP
- Be first in their family to go to college;
- Deliver an outstanding graduation Portfolio and Defense;
- Exemplify a commitment to service and leadership;
- Plan on attending a 4-year college or university in the fall after graduation.