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CORVALLIS - An Oregon State University student from Dallas has received $5,000 and earned recognition as a 2004 winner of OSU's College of Liberal Arts Leadership in Social Change Award.

Erin Sutherland is using the money to support a summer internship with a progressive social change organization.

Four awards were given this year, with the recognition made possible through a $20,000 annual gift from OSU alumnus James Wiggett of San Francisco. This is the third year of awards.

Sutherland is a senior in sociology, with a minor in Spanish, and will graduate in December from OSU.

She said she became interested in social change because she is concerned for the circumstances of women worldwide. She says working toward true equality and rights for women and their children on the international level is important both personally and professionally.

Through her internship this summer at Menores en Situacion Extraordinaria (Minors in Extraordinary Situations) in Morelia, Mexico she will gain insight into the experiences of Latina women, and will be responsible for evaluating the group's programs.

Sutherland will also help devise ways to overcome the underlying causes of the societal issues that face women and children in the region.

She will examine the community's knowledge of the legal services provided by MESE and help organize meetings to inform people of their legal rights. As part of her internship, Sutherland plans to implement a program of accountability so families in the MESE program pass on their knowledge and experiences to other families. She will also foster an expectation for clients to give back to the community, which she says will effectively multiply MESE's impact.