The Princeton Prize in Race Relations Committee of San Diego has announced that Pranaya Anshu, a 17-year-old University City High School senior, is the winner of its inaugural award. Two other area students have been recognized with certificates of accomplishment for their efforts. All three will be honored in a ceremony on May 15 at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. Debbie Scott Williams, national chair of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, will be the keynote speaker. The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is an annual awards program for high school students sponsored by Princeton, N.J., University. It was established to recognize, support and encourage young Americans who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the cause of positive race relations at their schools or communities. Information about the program is online at princeton.edu/pprize. This year, San Diego became the 25th region to grant the award. The winner in each region receives a cash award of $1,000 and is invited to Princeton University to attend the Princeton Prize Symposium on Race in April. This 2½-day event includes conversations and workshops on race relations with other regional winners, local high school students, Princeton students, alumni and faculty. For Anshu, the urge to make a difference started with an incident in her local public library. “It began with a pair of gloves,” she said. “It had been my first day of volunteering, and my mentor, who had been assigned to teach me how to shelve books, had worn gloves when shaking my hands, as if my Indian skin possessed some germs her Caucasian skin did not. She had even gone so far as to bluntly refuse to assist me due to the color of my skin.” The encounter shocked the then 7th-grader into action. Almost every Saturday for the next four years, she conducted a program at the University City public library branch for younger students. They would spend the day learning about different countries and different cultures. “They were very excited,” Anshu said, “and would wrap their arms around my legs. I don’t think they realized they were learning about other cultures. “For me,” she explained, “I had never really dealt with racism, and it was very hard to get through that first incident. I researched it and learned that education is the best way to fight racism, to learn that we are all human and we all have a heart.” Anshu is currently applying to college, where she hopes to study economics and communications. She is editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, The Commander. She is used to starting and leading groups like her school’s Red Cross Club and Tennis Club. Anshu no longer leads the educational program she founded, but it has been maintained by other students. “I thought racism was a thing of the past,” she said, “but it’s not, so I am proud that I can see [the program] continue.” Two other deserving high school students in the region have been awarded certificates of accomplishment for their efforts to promote racial harmony. Christian Onwuka, a senior at San Diego’s St. Augustine High School, is the president of the San Diego NAACP Youth Council and works to solve race problems throughout the community. Rolando Perez, a senior at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, helped establish a student organization to resolve conflict and promote diversity at his school.