Constance Coiner Undergraduate Prize


Description

This award honors the life and continues the work of Constance Coiner, PhD 1987, who died along with her daughter Ana Duarte-Coiner on TWA Flight 800, June 1996. Click here for information about Constance and Ana.

Amount

One $750 award

Deadline

Friday, February 27, 2026

Criteria

  • The prize will be offered to low-income undergraduate students who demonstrate an early interest in working-class and feminist issues as well as activist practice for social change.
  • Applicant must be an upper-division student enrolled at UCLA. Applicant must be a registered undergraduate student during the quarters when the application is due and when award payment is made.
  • Applicant must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Special Note

  • Students who are qualified under the CA Dream Act of 2011 are eligible to apply. Find detailed information on the Dream Act.
  • Applicants receiving financial aid are advised to consult with the Financial Aid Office about the potential effect of this award on their financial aid package.

To Apply

The application requires the following documents:

  1. Personal essay (maximum 1500 words):
    • Discuss how you make sense intellectually of the ways in which society defines and responds to gender, socioeconomic class, and racial and ethnic background.
    • Drawing on your life and academic activities, discuss what you believe and value about gender, class, or race and how you act on those beliefs and values through your work and study. Include details pertaining to your activities, such as the following:
      • Coursework, internships, field studies, and employment
      • Campus- or community-based activities/service programs
      • Tutoring experiences
      • Leadership roles
  2. Resume/Curriculum Vitae
  3. Unofficial UCLA transcripts (with most recent coursework)
    • For transfer students, community college transcripts are welcome if applicant feels it will strengthen application.
  4. Two letters of recommendation: One letter from a faculty member of any university and another letter from a faculty or non-faculty recommender who is knowledgeable about your community work

Letters of Recommendation

Your application will require the name and email of your faculty recommender. They will receive a survey link to submit their letter of recommendation. Your faculty member should know which award you are applying for. Faculty letters of recommendation are due Friday, February 27, 2026. Any application without a faculty letter will be considered incomplete and not be reviewed by the award committee.

Apply for the Constance Coiner Undergraduate Prize

Questions

For questions regarding CSW|Streisand Center awards, fellowships, and grants, please contact the Administrative Specialist, Eva Amarillas Diaz, eva@women.ucla.edu.

Past Recipients

Durriya Ahmed (she/they) is a first-generation Bangladeshi-American double majoring in history and geography with a minor in public affairs. Growing up in different communities within Orange County, LA, and the Inland Empire, they witnessed and experienced the systemic inequities faced by low-income communities of color—particularly in policing, social welfare, and education. Their undergraduate research focuses on how campus climates influence access to and retention in higher education for marginalized groups; drawing on post-colonial, abolitionist, and feminist frameworks to challenge the carceral structures embedded within the American education system.

View all 2024-2025 recipients (PDF).