Lee said he found the financial aspect of the prize to be a particularly good incentive.

“The cash award was definitely a motivating factor,” he explained. “I’ve spent the past two summers in Kenya, and I’m intending to donate it back to the community. I don’t believe it’s right for me to profit off the suffering of others—I feel it’s the least I can do to use this award to return the gifts that they have given me in sharing their stories.”

Others said that winning the Hoopes Prize has made them consider future academic work related to their research projects.

“I have never really considered going to grad school for government or economics before writing my thesis—now I think about it as something that’s a possibility in a few years,” said Christopher J. Librizzi ’03, author of a government thesis on “Bargaining and the Division of Household Labor.”

“Having gotten the Hoopes prize definitely makes it more likely that I’ll want to pursue this more—it’s definitely a sweeter option now,” said Julia Chuang ’03, who spent last summer collecting stories and data in Chinese sweatshops to research her prizewinning project on labor migration in China. “But this just says that somebody appreciates all this work I did—it’s validation for what you’ve done.”

The senior who won Hoopes prize were:

In Adams House, Helen L. Istvan and Rachel V. Zabarkes.

In Cabot House, Daniel A. Ewing and Miranda S.A. Richmond.

In Currier House, Jessica L. Berenbeim, Jonathan W.E. Darman, Ceridwen Dovey, Nicholas H. Horbaczewski, Jennifer L. Nelson and David Y. Xiao.

In Dudley House, Timohy J. Attanucci and Thomas R.W. Blair

.In Dunster House, Steven M. Corsello, Avram D. Heilman, Jeffrey W. Helfrich, Mark W. Kirby, Jeffries L. Oliver-Li, Julie D. Rosenberg and Rachel S. Weinerman.

In Eliot House, John F. Bash, Margareta I. Christian, Joshua S. Dienstag, Christopher G. Kanarky and Joseph S. Markson.

In Kirkland House, Caitlin E. Barrett, Leslie C. Chu, Kristin L. Hoelting, Fatima Raja, Jeffrey M. Theodore and Morgan W. Tingley.

In Leverett House, Jeremy L. England, Hannah L. Fleener, Kyna G. Fong, Justin A. Haynes, Beatrice E. Kitzinger, Micah T. Lewin, Betty C. Luther, Joseph D. Rabinoff, Elias R. Sacks, Kimberly M. Sanchez Ocasio and David L. Wollenberg.

In Lowell House, Angie M. Boyce, Cheryl M.L. Chan, Daniel C. Eng, Scott S. Lee, Elizabeth A. Mitchell, Kristin E. Naragon and Courtney A. Roberts.