From teaching English to Somalian refugees to fighting sexism through UVMs Womens Center, five students were awarded scholarship money for their academics and commitment to social and economic justice.UVM faculty union United Academics presented the 2012 Linda Backus Memorial Scholarship to senior Thomas Charbonneau and the 2012 Jeffrey Brace Book Awards to junior Larkin Coffey, sophomore Ian Hulbert, junior Indigo James and junior Arline Weaver last May.The Backus scholarship, an award of $1,000 presented to an undergraduate, was awarded for the first time last year, UA Scholarship Committee Chair Denise Youngblood said.Unlike most scholarship awards, an additional requirement for the scholarship states that the recipient must have an immediate family member who belongs to any Vermont Union.Charbonneau, 32, whose family has close ties to Vermont unions and whose mother knew Backus personally, was selected for his social justice work with the Somali Bantu Community Association of Vermont, a community of Somalian refugees.The state and federal government require that if you are a refugee and receive any funding you have to take a certain number of hours of English a month, Charbonneau said. There are different motives for being there.The Brace Brook Award is a scholarship that gives students $500 toward textbooks and school supplies.The award is named in honor of Jeffrey Brace, who fought in the Revolutionary War and whose social justice efforts were documented throughout Vermont history.With Brace in mind, the committee selected Coffey, Hulbert, James and Weaver because of their own commitments to social justice.Coffey, a junior, won the award from his involvement with Students Stand Up!, a campus activism group.Were going to educate students about the continual tuition hikes and the corporatization of our university and our national education system in general, he said.Hulbert realized that his work with extra curricular activities such as FeelGood gave him a decent shot at receiving the award.FeelGood, a non-profit club that sells sandwiches to students and then uses the proceeds to end world hunger, provided him with the platform toward making sustainable changes in societies around the globe.We are a movement that believes that we can end chronic persistent hunger sustainability in our lifetime, Hulbert said.James, a junior, works in UVMs Womens Center as part of their student staff, organizing events for women and working on the planning committee for the Dismantling Rape Culture conference slated for April 11. There are so many wonderful people on our campus who challenge me and continue questioning our culture, my assumptions and the ways I relate to others, she said.Last but not least, Weaver rounded out the Brace Award recipients for her work with students at a Boys and Girls Club in Arizona that she did during last years spring break.Youngblood said that over the past three years, approximately 80 percent of applicants have received funding.Students interested in applying for either award can check out the United Academics website at www.unitedacademics.org. The deadline is April 1.