#GDTBATH: Aneesha Tucker

Serving the community has always been an integral part of Aneesha Tucker’s life. The Carolina junior was raised to find ways to give back.

“My mom was a part of this service organization where they do a lot of volunteering, so it’s been instilled in me since I was younger, and it’s something that I’ve always loved to do,” said Tucker, who uses nonbinary pronouns.

Tucker brought those passions for service and social justice to Carolina and has been dedicated to serving local communities. Those exceptional contributions to the campus and community were recently recognized when Tucker was awarded the 2021 MLK UNC Student Scholarship, which is given annually to a Carolina junior who best exemplifies Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to society.

Tucker, a Morehead-Cain Scholar who studies health policy and management and women and gender studies, ties the honor back to the community. Winning the award, Tucker said, means the whole community is winning.

“That is the wondrous part about doing social justice work — the wins are collective,” Tucker said.

Tucker’s community service efforts began by volunteering at food banks and shelters growing up. They even started a national organization for women in high school. Continuing the efforts to support others as a Tar Heel has shaped Tucker’s college experience.

“I think that it’s expanded my outlook in many ways,” Tucker said. “The service that I participated in during my college career has made me more intentional in what kinds of service I participate in.”

As a Carolina student, Tucker has been busy serving in a multitude of service organizations, including serving as the policy chair of Criminal Justice Awareness and Action, which brings awareness and advocacy to problems plaguing the criminal justice system.

Criminal Justice Awareness and Action connects its efforts on campus to the larger work of Emancipate NC — an organization centered around ending mass incarceration and dismantling racism. Tucker writes blog posts for Emancipate NC and writes poetry for The Bridge, an online publication for women of color to showcase their creative talents.

Tucker is also helping those right outside Carolina’s stone walls, including serving as a youth education assistant at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, teaching classes on consent and sexual education for K-12 students in Orange County, and helping local mutual aid projects such as “Fed Up” to provide food for families in need during the pandemic.

“That’s where I started getting a lot of political education around mutual aid,” they said. “I fell in love with it, and I’ve been doing that since the pandemic started to provide food and COVID-19 resources to the Durham-Chapel Hill area.”

The opportunities to give back haven’t been one-sided, Tucker said. It has been a mutual exchange — benefiting both Tucker and the community.

“I’m giving my skills to the community, and they’re also giving back to me,” they said. “While I’m doing this work and gaining these skills, they’re also pouring into me, and we’re pouring into each other as a community.”