Honors
Social Vision
Edward Kidder Graham Award honors student magazine founder
Marissa Heyl ’07 stood in her online ing the ceremony in The Carolina Club, we Last spring, Patchwork presented
journalism class and announced to had time to recognize more than one sen- “Threading Livelihood: Supporting Indian
everyone that she was starting a student ior for their contributions to areas such as Craftswomen through Fair Trade,” an exhi-
magazine. Among all the magazine racks leadership, performance or Greek life.” bition featuring photos and hand-embroi-
that dot the campus, not a single publica- By winning the award, Heyl, a journal- dered textiles that was displayed at the
tion put issues of social justice on the cover, ism and mass communication major, Johnston Center in April.
and she wanted to fill that niche. secured $1,000 for Patchwork, a full-color, The four-part exhibition explored the
The pitch worked. Some of her class- glossy magazine that is published once a lives of craftswomen living in remote vil-
mates became staff writ- lages in Kutch, India, and
ers. One student, Peter how fair trade organiza-
Cvelich, became co-edi- tions have helped them
tor-in-chief. And the sell their embroidery on
professor of the class, the global market. Last
Deb Aikat, became the fall, Heyl traveled to
magazine’s faculty advis- India to examine how
er. It was Aikat who fair trade empowered
nominated Heyl for the local craftswomen, and
2007 Edward Kidder the exhibition is an
Graham Award for her extension of her time
work with Patchwork there.
magazine, the publica- “I feel that media can
tion she named and be used to promote posi-
founded in 2004. tive social change,” said
The Graham Award Heyl, who also works
honors a graduating with Campus Y’s
senior who has demon- Advocates for Human
strated leadership, dedi- Rights. “It shouldn’t just
cation and innovation be used to report news; it
within an officially rec- Marissa Heyl ’07, left, received the 2007 Edward Kidder Graham Award for her leadership, dedication and innova- should raise awareness
tion in working with Patchwork, a social justice magazine she founded in 2004. Heyl is shown above in India,
ognized student organi- where she spent time last fall researching fair trade and its impact on local craftswomen. about social justice
zation. In previous issues.”
years, seven seniors received the honor; this Recently, Heyl was awarded the Eli
year, the honor was given to Heyl alone. Fellowship by Ten Thousand Villages, the
The reduction in Graham recipients is a largest fair trade retailer in the U.S. In July,
result of the award’s recent inclusion in the she is moving to Akron, Pa., to begin work-Chancellor’s Awards ceremony. For the past ing in Ten Thousand Villages’ marketing
four years, the GAA held the award cere- division. The organization works with more
mony at The Carolina Club, where honors than 100 artisan groups to improve the
were given for an outstanding senior, advis- livelihood of disadvantaged people in devel-er of the year and a favorite faculty mem- oping countries through the expansion of
ber. Last fall, a five-member Graham com- fair trade.
mittee voted in favor of returning the “I am using the same skills that I devel-adviser award to the auspices of student oped with Patchwork,” Heyl said. “I’m using
affairs and returning the faculty award to different media to promote this socially and
the senior class. ethically responsible consumerism.”
COURTESY MARISSA HE YL ’07
“Because the Chancellor’s Awards are so The Edward Kidder Graham Award is
tight for time, they selected just one named for the 1898 alumnus and former
superlative senior this year,” said Mike UNC president who introduced the con-Ludwick, manager of GAA student pro- cept of the student union to Carolina in
grams, who recently left the GAA staff to 1917. ■
teach in China. “When the GAA was hold-
semester and tackles international topics
such as women’s issues, refugees and global
health. The magazine’s upcoming issue deals
with Millennium Development goals.
The money represents a large sum for a
magazine, but Patchwork has never used its
funds for just paper and ink.
“Marissa always wanted Patchwork to be
more than a magazine,” Cvelich said. “She
wanted it to be interactive, bringing in
speakers and having forums for discussion.”
In spring 2006, Heyl did just that, organizing Empowerment through Innovative
Development Week, a five-day event that
featured a fair trade craft sale and local
entrepreneurs speaking about their projects.
Patchwork released its globalization-themed
spring issue at the week’s main event, a
panel about community development in
the Triangle.
