The Mildred & Richard Loving Award

The Loving Award is part of the Annual University Student Leadership Awards Program

The Mildred and Richard Loving Award is named in honor of Mildred and Richard Loving for their bravery and perseverance in invalidating miscegenation laws via the landmark Supreme Court decision in Loving vs. Virginia. This award is presented to a member of the University of Maryland undergraduate community who has demonstrated a significant and ongoing commitment to multiracial and cross-cultural causes and communities. Award Criteria: Open to all undergraduates, good student standing

Interested in serving on the Award Selection Committee as an alumni or current faculty/staff member at UMD? Email Hana Zewdie at hzewdie@umd.edu.

2024 Mildred and Richard Loving Award Recipient

Grace Mielke

Grace is a senior History major with a minor in Leadership Studies at the University of Maryland. She has done substantial educational work for the Multiracial Biracial Student Association (MBSA). She wants to incorporate her work into her future career, where she is seeking positions in the nonprofit sector.

From Grace: "I have always been conscious about my Biracial identity, but I did not have the language I needed to perfectly encapsulate how I felt navigating Filipino and German American identities as a child. After attending several MBSA events and finding a strong community here, I became their Director of Cultural Competency. I wanted to continue to foster this special community for other Multiracial folks who also may have not had this support system available to them when they were younger."