2022 Cherry Braswell Rutland Memorial Award Recipients

Award Recipient: Raleigh Adams

Raleigh Adams is a Clemson second year student majoring in Political Science and Philosophy with an emphasis in Law, Liberty, and Justice. Raleigh grew up in Easley, South Carolina where the importance of ethical leadership was emphasized and shown in practice to her from a young age by her parents and grandparents in their service as small business owners and leaders to the upstate community. The ideology of ethical and servant leadership has characterized Raleigh’s time at Clemson thus far, she has been committed to ethical leadership through her time in CUSG Senate and service to the Clemson community within it, as well as service organizations such as Silver Wings and the bipartisan startup Civic Synergy, and is both infinitely grateful for these opportunities and determined to carry this attitude forward in her time here. After Clemson, Raleigh is impassioned to provide law services to those members of the community that need it the most, to act as an ethical third party and be of service to make the lives of those around her better. A life dedicated to service and ethical leadership will not only be her legacy, but honor and privilege, to continue and live up to the memory Mrs. Cherry Braswell Rutland established.

This year, the Rutland Institute is pleased to also give awards to two honorable mention applications that are both very deserving.

Honorable Mention: Haley Blazer

Haley Blazer is a senior in the Language and International Health BS program at Clemson. She is also President of the Language and International Health Society. In her eyes, an ethical leader is a great listener who takes the time to thoroughly assess the needs of the community before taking action. They are a representative who is trusted to take everyone's well-being into account. Her commitment to ethical leadership began at Clemson, however she pledges to continue exemplifying this definition of leadership in my future endeavors.

Honorable Mention: Bryanna Thobe

Bryanna Thobe is a junior at Clemson University majoring in Packaging Science with a minor in Business Administration. As our world evolves, the well-being of our environment continues to become of increasing concern. When the word sustainability comes to mind, you typically think of decreasing pollution or increasing recycling. However, as someone who is pursuing a career in the packaging industry, she has the ability to inspire waste reduction at the source through efforts to decrease the overall size of packaging components and by prioritizing environmentally-friendly material choices. Through these actions, she will be enacting environmentally ethical packaging practices, and, hopefully, will inspire similar actions across the industry.