The Alice Eaves Barns Award Outstanding Achievement in Master’s Program

Named in honor of her many years of service to the Graduate School as a staff member, The Alice Eaves Barns Award recognizes a student who has displayed tenacity in the face of adversity while attaining excellence in both the classroom and outside endeavors. It is given in recognition of outstanding achievement in a master’s program. Sam Weiner is this year’s recipient of the Barns award.

Sam Weiner is a master’s student in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Louisville. She is a Graduate Teaching Assistant who teaches WGST 201, Women in American Culture, to undergraduate students. Before coming to the University of Louisville, Sam attended the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies. While at the University of Illinois, she was very active in LGBT student groups and engaged in campus advocacy for LGBT students. Sam also served as a private tutor for a middle school student, as a camp counselor, and as an inclusion companion for children with special needs. After completing her undergraduate degree, she attended law school, graduating from DePaul University College of Law in May of 2022. While in law school, she focused on international and human rights law with a particular focus on LGBT law. She also wrote for the DePaul Journal of Sports Law on the relationship between antitrust policies and NIL deals for collegiate athletes. Moreover, Sam was part of the LGBT club that raised awareness about legal issues, such as asylum and adoption, pertaining to the LGBT community.

During the summer between her first and second years in the master’s program, Sam was in a road accident that left her severely injured. Her nominator writes that despite being bedridden and confined to a wheelchair, Sam was determined to continue her studies and her duties as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Sam adapted her face-to-face teaching plan to an online modality. After undergoing surgery at the start of the fall semester, Sam continued to excel both in her own coursework and in her teaching.  Students in her fall online course named her a student champion, “expressing,” according to her nominator, “their gratitude for the level of attention and care she provides them, noting how she helped them improve their skills, as well as helping them navigate problems in their own lives.”

After graduation, Sam plans on entering a Master of Education program to become a high school social studies teacher.