Andrew Barry honoured with Presidents' Award for Excellence in Student Leadership
Described by his professors as an up and coming human rights leader, Andrew Barry has a wealth of experiences he will take with him upon graduation. Barry completed an internship with the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development where he completed one of the largest studies ever done on homosexuality in Ghana. He submitted his work to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana, and it has since used his findings to help in understanding cultural issues connected with homosexuality. He has also worked with the African community in Calgary, where from 2006 to 2007 he helped Eritrean and Sudanese refugees integrate into Canadian society through the Host Family Program at the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society.
Barry then spent a semester abroad at the University of Economics, Prague and most recently participated in an internship in South Africa at the Centre for Human Rights, which is associated with the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria where he researched responses of students to homosexuality, which correlated with his honours thesis based on evolution of homosexual rights in South Africa.
His advocacy within the university community itself has had an equally significant impact. Barry has organized and hosted anti-homophobia seminars on campus, as both a member of the Development Studies Club and a member of the Positive Space Campaign. He has volunteered with the Multi-Faith Chaplains' Centre, the Queers on Campus club, and the Campus Food Bank. He served as a peer mentor to other students in Development Studies and as a volunteer for the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. He also successfully advocated for the creation of an examination center for students with disabilities at the University of Calgary, and, through his own human rights complaint, helped to change the regulations of the Alberta Scholarship Programs to increase eligibility for students with disabilities.
Barry will receive the Presidents' Award for Excellence in Student Leadership at the University of Calgary convocation ceremony Thursday November 12.